


A Brother’s Secret

by dinui_parjai



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Battlefront (Video Games)
Genre: Adoption, Del Meeko is still a sweetheart, F/M, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 34,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26691373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinui_parjai/pseuds/dinui_parjai
Summary: “I have two older brothers.” Del had said, before the Dreamers mission.He just didn’t realize what had happened to them. However, he thought he was done cleaning up their messes.He didn’t think his team would help him do so, either.
Relationships: Del Meeko & Gideon Hask, Del Meeko & Gideon Hask & Iden Versio, Del Meeko & Iden Versio, Del Meeko & Luke Skywalker, Del Meeko & OC, Del Meeko/Iden Versio, Iden Versio & Gideon Hask, Iden Versio & OC
Comments: 20
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been so long I don’t even know what inspired me to write this but I LOVE it and hope you guys do too.

Del hadn’t known about his brother’s secret son until after Cade had been dead for months. Del was called, quickly, to a Coruscanti medcenter as soon as he returned from the Dreamers mission.

Why?

Because apparently, he had a nephew. An _orphaned_ nephew. And _he,_ Del, was the one who Cade had chosen to put down for emergencies. Cade must have forgotten the part where Del was assigned to a deadly team of assassins. 

Or maybe he _hadn’t_ known. Del and his brother hadn’t exactly gotten together for lunch all that often.

A nurse at the hospital ran his ID and took a blood sample. When it came back she had stared at him. 

“We always do a basic level test to establish familial ties before sending a baby home with a relative.”She explained. “You two are definitely related, he’s your nephew is he not?” 

“Yes, he is.” Del explained, with a bit of a smile.

“Your DNA was almost identical.” 

“Very interesting, given that Cade and I aren’t identical. Me and my other brother are, however, but he’s not going to be having babies I can assure you that.” 

He and Cade had tested their DNA against each other’s in the past and it had come out as nearly identical, unlike Del and Elias’s DNA, which had come back entirely the same. You wouldn’t guess it from looking, though. Del was the tallest Meeko brother. Cade seemed abnormally short at slightly below two meters, while both Elias and Del were taller than it. 

“Oh. Well…” The nurse looked him up and down. He probably smelled really bad, and his beard was unkempt as he hadn’t had time to shave. But, he still had on a navy uniform, so he had some dignity left. “If you come with me, I can introduce you.”

Del towered easily over everyone else in the medcenter. The babies in the nursery looked like tiny little dolls. 

_Meeko, Kalen._

He’d never known his brother had a son. Based on the timeline and when he had died, Cade may not have known either. Del didn’t even know the kid’s mother.

The thought made him sadder as he saw the squirming bundle in the nurse’s arms. Dark hair and green eyes.

“Here he is, Commander Meeko.” 

And Del suddenly found himself with the baby in his arms, looking down at him. Del could tell he looked like Cade. Like _himself._

“I’m sorry bud, I must smell bad.” Del cooed. “I haven’t had time to shower since I got back.”

He didn’t even know if newborns could smell. 

“How new is he?” 

The nurse pulled back some of the blanket to see the tag on Kalen’s ankle. “Four days old.”

_Sorry I didn’t get here sooner. I could’ve met your mother._

The baby let out a big screech, and Del instinctively held him to his chest. Even such a small thing was so warm.

_Oh, who am I kidding, I can’t do this! I’ve got a job and I could die and..._

He knew what was going to happen. He was going to take the baby to his parents’, and check up on him when he could.

He’d build him a droid, just like Dio, even if Iden has basically taken the seeker droid as her own. Del didn’t mind, but he could sure use him now.

“Hey, buddy.” Del repeated. “Yeah, everything’s going to be alright, yeah? I’m here. Poor hungry little thing. I wish I could help.” He turned to the nurse. “Can I get a bottle for him?”

She nodded.

Del pondered a few more moments, and looked down at his nephew’s face. He was a cute little thing, and Del resolved to do anything he could to keep him safe.

“Three and a half kilos, huh?” Del asked him rhetorically. “Hey there, big guy, eat up and get bigger, yeah?”

Kalen cooed and relaxed as soon as Del pressed the bottle to his lips. He sucked eagerly, filling himself up with audible gulps. It was so cute that Del couldn’t resist a tired smile.

He could afford to take care of him, as far as food and clothes and diapers went, but Kalen would be without him whenever he had a mission. 

“What am I going to do with you, huh?” Del asked, letting the baby wrap a hand around his left pointer finger. The baby arched his back and coughed, finished with the bottle. Fatherly instinct took over and Del was holding him to his shoulder. 

“I’ll get us a place. Or I suppose I could sneak you onto the _Corvus_.”

Kalen sneezed. 

“Or not. Hask would have a fit.” Del chuckled a bit. “And I don’t think you’re quite what Iden had in mind when she said she wanted to try to find a fourth member. Something tells me she doesn’t like babies. But you’re cute enough, she may make an exception.”

And so, an hour later, Del Meeko strode out of the medcenter with a bag of baby supplies over one shoulder and his nephew in his arms.

He found a room to lease and quickly went to work, placing the baby in a carrier that he could keep an eye on as he showered and shaved. Feeling much more refreshed, he propped himself on the bed with pillows with his legs bent at the knee. He set Kalen up, and got a good look at him in his hospital-issue onesie. Del had learned why babies wore gloves after nearly jumping out of the shower to stop Kalen scratching his face- there was now a mark above the baby’s left eye. His eyes were Meeko green, and his hair was dark and curly. Much curlier than the baby pictures Del had seen of himself.

Hard to think that he could be genetically proven to be this child’s father, even if Del was _definitely_ a virgin. If anyone asked too much, at least he had the birth records. Kalen’s mother, whoever she was, had put the name “Meeko” down not only as the baby’s but also as hers, which meant there was more than one secret Cade had been keeping. Or, he and Del had been separated for some time. Perhaps he just never had the chance to hear about it. 

Research warned him that newborns only slept for a few hours at a time. That was okay- Del wasn’t the best sleeper either.

He settled in for a long week.

“Commander?” 

Iden looked up from her datapad. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“Have you seen Del?”

She furrowed her eyebrows a bit. “No, I haven’t. Has he gone out again?”

“It appears so. Bother, though- I needed him to look at something for me.”

“And Dio needs some repairs,” Iden sighed.

Both of them were worried about their squadmate. Ever since the Dreamers incident, he had acted… different. In the three weeks they’d been back (not including the one day mission to take care of the moff who was being blackmailed), Del had left early and returned late anytime there was leave time. 

“Where do you think it is he goes?”

“I’ll bet he’s off drinking.” Hask speculated. “You see him come back with the bags under his eyes and the tired voice. He’s trying to forget Jeosyn.”

“So am I.”Iden murmured. Hask hadn’t yet served his punishment that she’d given him. Sure, the Admiral hadn’t done anything since Iden didn’t request it, but she still let Hask know what she thought of his leadership any chance she could. “If that’s really what he’s up to I’ll go with him next time.” 

“And I-”

“Will stay here.” Iden finished for him. “You haven’t convinced me you can make good decisions yet.”

He grit his teeth.”Yes, commander. I will be heading to the apartments,now.”

“If I check your tracer and you aren’t there, you’ll be in trouble.”

“I know.” he growled, and stalked away with all the poise of an Imperial officer.

_Wait,_ Iden thought as soon as Hask left. _I can track him. Why couldn’t I do the same for Del?_

Not that she really _wanted_ to… last thing she wanted was to discover Del’s ping coming from a sketchy or raunchy location. She didn’t want to think of him as the kind of man to turn to alcohol and sex because if it got too bad, Del, too, would end up on probation.

Curiosity would soon get the better of her.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Del was just settling down with Kalen for his fourth nap of the day when there was a knock at the door.

_ Kriff. _

“That’s it, buddy,” Del soothed, ignoring another knock. Kalen’s arms and legs stopped moving, and soon he was breathing peacefully on Del’s shoulder. He laid him down with all the care of a father and went to the door.

“Iden?” He said, when it opened. Even though she was in casual clothes, he was immediately self conscious. His commander had caught him at a bad time. If anyone else answered the door, it would have been fine that Del was shirtless, with tousled hair and some whiskers. No doubt he looked as if he had been up to some… interesting activities.

“So. This is where you disappear off to?” Iden said dismissively. “An apartment in the slums?”

“Trust me, this isn’t the slums. Nowhere near it. It’s quite nice.” Del said, and then cleared his throat. His eyes narrowed a bit, but not in anger. It looked to Iden as if he were… defensive. Scared. 

“Should I even  _ ask  _ to come in?” 

“I mean, the apartments your father gave us are much nicer.” Del continued, blocking her path with his body so she couldn’t see inside.

“So why aren’t you there, then?”

“Because- “Del felt sweat on the back of his neck. “Because I just need to be alone sometimes.” He tried to relax. Kalen would sleep for hours. Iden would leave after a few minutes. Hopefully.

“Is there something you don’t want me to see?”

“Well…” Del was trapped. If he said no, Iden may come in. If he said yes, she may assume things and report him. “Is Hask with you?” The other man would definitely report him.

“No. I sent him to his room without supper and he is rather upset.” Del’s best friend crossed her arms and leaned on one leg. “So, can I join you in your mellowing, or-”

“Sure.” Del’s mouth said before he could stop it. He facepalmed so she couldn’t see, and then hurried to skirt by her to the bedroom and pull on a new shirt and double check that the baby still slept. Kalen looked fine, but there was never a way to tell. Babies changed unexpectedly, he’d learned.

He backed out quietly and closed the door. He didn’t keep explicit baby supplies outside the bedroom, but if Iden looked into the kitchenette, she would see a counter covered in baby bottles. But she was short enough to not see anything from the couch she sat on. Thank goodness for interior design.

“So.”She asked when he came back. “What is this really about? I know you and Hask don’t get along very well anymore, but running away?”

“I just…” 

_ Sometimes, the best lies have a bit of truth in them. _

“I just needed to separate my home and work life is all. It was getting to the point that I couldn’t sleep on the  _ Corvus,  _ and it was really catching up to me. Literally.” Iden looked down and saw that his abdomen  _ had  _ gotten noticeably flabby, and he always seemed anxious, and he was easily forgetting things.

“Which reminds me.” Iden said, in a casual and joking tone. “Your kid needs some taking care of.”

“My  _ what?!”  _ Del exclaimed, as a confused Iden brought out the ID-10 seeker droid from the bag she’d brought with her. Del’s shoulders relaxed, but he couldn’t deny that he was shaken by her words. He reached for it, but-

“Del?” Iden raised an eyebrow, and pulled the droid back from his reach. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” He said, much too quickly. Then, as Iden watched, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees and buried his head in his hands. A few moments, and Iden was shocked to hear muffled sobs. Del was  _ exhausted.  _ He was  _ breaking down.  _

But he was also a member of Inferno Squad. So Iden set the droid, still folded up and deactivated, on the table and leaned over and put her arm around his shoulders. “Hey, Del.” She said cautiously. “Do you need to talk to someone?”

“No.” He said, still muffled.

“I think you do.” Iden sometimes forgot how  _ old  _ Del was. He was almost forty years old, and more than half of that had been in the Imperial Armed Forces. That much trauma couldn’t be good for anyone.

“Let me talk to my father, Del.”Iden said softly.”I can get you a break, or a discharge, or-”

Del suddenly shot up so quickly he nearly hit her head. “No.” He declared, firmly. “I’m fit. I’m okay. I just need…” he trailed off.  _ I need to tell someone my secret. _

“Iden, you wouldn’t ever trust me again if I told you the truth.”

“Del, that’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. There’s no way you would ever be able to look at me the same, and I- I could be  _ court martialed-” _

“I  _ won’t  _ let that happen.” Iden told him firmly. “Del, I know you won’t tell Commander Versio, but will you tell Iden?”

A pause.

Del bowed his head again, silent, and Iden withdrew. Del was afraid of being court martialed. He had gotten into something deep. It slightly shook her opinion of him, but she knew she would get the truth out of him eventually, and then she could help him. 

“I’m about to get angry, Del.” 

He looked at her with his dreamy green eyes, and made the most pathetic face she’d ever seen. But it was also cute, and she couldn’t ignore it. Del opened his mouth to speak, to state his case, when suddenly-

A strange sound came from down the hall. Del whimpered a bit, and then stood up without another word and began walking towards it.

“Del!” Iden called after him, offended. She didn’t even think twice as to what the strange- wailing?- sound could be, but followed him to the bedroom at the end of the hall. She peeked inside, and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Can’t you see the resemblance?” Del, her best friend, regarded her with a sad look in his eyes as he showed off the baby in his hands. He held it close to his face, next to his cheek, but then suddenly the baby screeched and squirmed and nearly twisted out of Del’s grip. He gasped and struggled to regain control of the fragile body, then looked at Iden sheepishly.

“I’m still learning how to hold him.”

“It’s a him?” Iden finally found her voice to ask. “Where’s his mother?”

“Dead.” Del said bluntly, and Iden took a cautious step forward.

“Oh, Del-” Iden gasped, and was already reaching for her commlink. “That’s it. I’m calling in for you to have leave time, right now-”

“Iden, no.” Del lunged for her hand, baby and all, and if it wasn’t for that Iden would have side stepped him and he knew it. “Please. Just sit with me and listen for a bit.”

Slowly, broadcasting her movements, she put the commlink back and followed him into the living room. Her mind was filled with questions,  _ you had a kid? When? Who was the mother? Do I know her? Was-  _

_ Was our friendship a lie? _

But Del soon answered all of them. He talked about how his brother Cade was married and Del hadn’t known it, and he had died what had to be only a few weeks after the baby boy, Kalen, was conceived. He and Cade were brothers, so Del could pass a paternity test for the kid. And he did, apparently. He didn’t even have to work too hard to get Kalen released to him. Del hadn’t met his sister-in-law before she died from unforeseen complications shortly after Kalen was born.

“He’s about four weeks old.” Del concluded. 

“Where have you kept him when we’re gone?” Iden demanded.

“I am going to build him a droid. And my parents are just down the street.”

She slowly began to shake her head, then stared at the pint sized being in Del’s arms. He  _ did  _ look like Del. Iden wasn’t going to pretend like she hadn’t wondered what kids of her and any guy she’d crushed on could look like, but with Kalen… Genetics had really said “copy-paste”. 

“He really is handsome, Del.” She said after a moment. 

“Yeah.” He murmured, lost in thought. Baby Kalen looked at her curiously, and one of his little hands lifted into the air towards her and it looked like he was using all of his strength to do so.

“Would you like to hold him?” Del asked, eventually. 

“Me?” Iden made a face, and Del remembered the assumption that she didn’t like kids.

“Of course, you. You’re my best friend, Iden.”

“You trust me that much?”

“With my life. Always.” Del smiled at her, and Iden couldn’t refuse. She held her arms out, and instinctively placed the baby on her chest. His head tossed a bit, and suddenly lurched back and looked at her.

“That’s kind of scary.” Iden said at the sudden and painful-looking movement, but Del pursed his lips.

“I’ve never seen him do that before. He must really be trying to learn you.”

Iden had always told herself that she was bad with kids, but here was a baby, in her arms and looking at her like he didn’t have a care in the galaxy. She didn’t know the first thing about childcare, but she thought of her own mother, and suddenly her mouth opened instinctively and-

“Hey there, little one.”

Del gasped softly beside her. He’d  _ never  _ heard Iden speak so sweetly before. 

Kalen cooed, an involuntary smile crossing his lips.

“Why don’t you go back to sleep?” Iden continued, and ran a hand over the soft head of hair on his head. It was almost surreal, and soon she had eased Kalen back against her chest as he continued to squirm. Rather then try to force him still, Iden let him be and laid back a bit farther, propping her feet up against the table in front of the couch. Del’s legs were already stretched out atop it, so her pushing on it did almost nothing. She looked up at Del to smile, but then felt something odd and jumped.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, red flushing her cheeks.

“What?”Del asked, sleepily.

“He…” Iden looked down and saw exactly what she thought she was feeling. The baby had latched onto her nipple through her shirt, thin as it was. “He… thinks I..” She gasped a bit when she felt tiny hands pull at the rest of her shirt and knead the soft skin of her breast.

“What’s he doing?” Del wondered, and then looked over and he, too, blushed. “Oh.”

“I didn’t think they did that unless they wanted food,”Iden said. “And it’s not like I can…” She trailed off a bit and looked back down. The baby’s eyes had closed, and he looked so calm.

“You aren’t-” Del cleared his throat. “You aren’t wearing anything… you know…”

“I don’t  _ have  _ to unless strenuous activity or my uniform is involved.” Iden snapped back. “I enjoy a little freedom now and then, too.”

“Do you… do you want him to stop?” Del asked innocently.

“Not really.” Iden reached down and adjusted him a bit, and sighed. “It feels… you know what, I’m not even gonna try to explain. It feels good though. I feel relaxed.”

“Huh.” Del muttered. “I’m serious, Iden. I can get him a bottle.”

“Shh, Del. He’s falling back asleep.” 

He couldn’t argue with that. Anything that put Kalen to sleep was fair game. 

Ten silent minutes went by. Soon Iden felt the baby’s head fall off of her breast and readjusted her shirt. It was wrinkled and damp where he had been sucking, but nothing too bad.

“I guess I’ll just have to wear dark colors from now on.” She decided. When Del didn’t respond, she looked over and saw that he, too, was asleep, head tucked to his chest.

“I must be really good if I got them both to sleep.” She said to nobody, and carried Kalen back to the bedroom and laid him carefully in his cot. She grabbed a blanket off of Del’s bed, and brought it back into the living room and curled up on the other side of the couch. After getting comfortable, she kicked the blanket over herself and half of Del’s imposing figure, and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Del startled awake when he felt something poke his butt. He turned around, and saw one of Iden’s legs adjusting itself as she slept. 

She looked so peaceful, he could forgive her for the rude awakening.

_How long was I asleep?_

It was nearly 2300, one of Kalen’s feeding times. Del had done his best to establish a schedule for him so whoever he left Kalen with could uphold it. 

He walked quietly to the kitchen, and began to prepare a bottle when he heard Iden wake up. 

“Del,” she said from the couch, stretching. “Go to sleep. I’ll take care of him.”

“He’s got several feedings.” Del protested. “I can’t just-“

“That’s an _order,_ Del.” 

His shoulders sank, and then he grabbed a piece of paper and scrawled down the times of Kalen’s feedings. He handed it to Iden with a yawn. She took it, and then pointed to the bedroom. 

“Go.” She ordered.

He trudged that way, but didn’t get in bed.

“Do I need to tuck you in?” Iden teased sarcastically with a deadpan look on her face. 

“That would be nice.” Del mused, and took off his shirt and crawled under the covers. Iden had seen him shirtless too often to stare.

The baby looked so peaceful while he was asleep, Iden almost felt bad for waking him up. But it was Del’s instructions, and he had all the experience.

So she listened. She fed Kalen at 2300, and he fell back asleep while eating. Then, at 0230, he wouldn’t head back to sleep even when she let him on her breast again.

After a few more minutes of fussing, and Iden was half tempted to try giving him her _real_ nipple, she finally realized what the problem was.

Begrudgingly, she turned to the Net. 

_How to change a diaper._

She could sense her mother laughing at her in heaven, if Zeehay wasn’t already. _Look at you, Iden!_

Imagining her mother’s laugh made her smile even as she set about the awkward task. It didn’t _seem_ that hard, but it did seem below her as the commander of an elite squad.

The Net article worked if she followed it, but she did make the mistake of ignoring the middle of the article that applied specifically to male babies. 

She soon found out why it was important when she got sprayed by baby pee, which even if it was mostly water it was still _gross._ She made a disgruntled noise, loud enough to wake Del up. As soon as he saw her- reflex had saved her and at least she didn’t get hit in the face, but- he started laughing.

“This isn’t funny, Del!” Iden screeched.

“Yes- it is.” He gasped, and kept laughing. Soon Iden was laughing too, because it was contagious. Without thinking, she tossed her “ruined” shirt at him. 

“Get that in the wash.” She demanded.

“Yes, ma’am.” Still chuckling to himself, (and somehow ignoring her chest) Del walked off, and Iden finished taping the new diaper back. The baby may have been remorseful about it, from the way he looked up at Iden with big green eyes.

“I know, buddy. It’s not your fault.” Iden glanced around. “But that was my only shirt.”

She had no choice but to steal one of Del’s. It became a tunic on her, but it was thin and comfortable and she didn’t mind it. And now she smelled like her best friend, the tall, charismatic engineer.

“I’ll bet Hask is wondering where we are.” Del said, walking back into the room.

“It’s not like he can.” Iden said, turning back around and holding the baby to her chest. He was still going for her breast, eagerly sucking as if she were his pacifier. That’s what she’d concluded: she wouldn’t be producing milk, even if it was her bare breast, so the only other reason he’s latching would be for comfort.

Iden Versio, Commander of Inferno Squad, was just a baby’s glorified comfort toy.

“And he’s probably asleep…”Del continued, and his voice trailed off when he realized she was wearing his shirt. “You’re wearing my shirt.”

“My other one has baby pee on it.” Iden said gruffly.

“It’s too big for you.”

“That’s because you’re too big for me.”Iden said back, but then blushed. What was this? She was almost acting… drunk, as if Kalen had caused her to let her guard down.

“We can’t fool around too much.” She said. “You know, we ship out in a few days. We should get prepared.” 

“I know. I’m getting prepared right here. I’ll spend every moment I can with him.”

“Do you need anything? I can go out and run errands for you if you need it. Or maybe we could all go out together? It could be fun!”

“Well…” Del looked thankful and thoughtful for a moment. “He’s outgrowing his nappies, and-”

Iden giggled. “Nappies?”

“That’s what they’re called!” Del protested. “And his onesies, too.”

“And I’d better get some new shirts to keep here.” Iden said.

“Or you could just…”Del had a twinkle in his eye. “Learn to change a diaper.”

“How was I supposed to know what would happen!” Iden demanded. “I don’t have any experience with changing diapers!”

Kalen made a sound that might have been a giggle around her breast. “Not you, too.” Iden groaned.

“Okay, okay.” Del laughed. “Let’s sleep, then eat, and then we can go out. I’m sure your shirt will be done by then.”

“I’ll need to use your holorecorder, I have a bit of work to do.” Iden said, and he handed it to her immediately.

“You’re going to make calls in _my_ shirt? With _my_ son hanging off your breast?” He felt odd saying the word “breast”, especially referring to his commander, but-

“Don’t get such a big head, Meeko.” Iden scoffed. “Of course not- I have to listen to some things and then send in some _written_ reports about our last mission.”

He hummed, and Iden carried Kalen back into the living room and reclined, which was comfortable for both of them so he could still suck. “I don’t want to see your face again until _at least_ 0630!”

“Fine!” Del yelled back. “I’m going to sleep _so good,_ you’ll have no choice but to give me a commendation for it!”   
  


She chuckled to herself, and waited for the moment Kalen’s lazy head would come and he would slip off of her breast. She murmured to him, and then readjusted him on her shoulder so she, too, could sleep until his next bottle at 0400. But, she found it difficult to sleep, and ended up getting an early start to her work. 

* * *

When Del came back into the room at exactly 0630:01, he saw Iden asleep with Kalen on her chest, and it evoked so many different emotions inside of him. It was undoubtedly the _cutest_ sight he’d ever seen. 

As if she could sense him looking at her, Iden began to blink awake, and yawned. “Do you have any caf?”

“You don’t want something more filling?” Del’s eyebrows creased in concern, even though he knew his commander rarely ate breakfast.

“Okay, fine. A caf and a biscuit. Is that better?”

“Fine.” He said sarcastically, and smiled as he set about preparing a meal. “How did he do?”

“Well, he drank almost two full bottles at 0400, and got to sleep easy as long as I let him use me as his pacifier.”

“And no more changing mishaps?”

“Ha-ha.”Iden said, but she was smiling. “I didn’t need to. But I have a plan for if it comes up again.”

“Which is…?”

“Make you do it.”

Del laughed again, harder. “I’d be okay with that, but do you know how awkward it is to change a diaper if you’re out and about and in a men’s ‘fresher?”

“No.”

“So awkward, that I just deal with the screaming until we get home.”

Okay, that was kind of cute.

“Where do you usually go for baby stuff?” Iden wondered. Even if Inferno spent a lot of time on Coruscant, Iden didn’t know anything about the shops and whatever else.

“I go to the shopping district, and there’s a lot of places I hit. We’ll be fine.” Del had already planned the whole day out in his head. “We just need to get in and out before it’s too crowded, and make sure to bring a few bottles with us to keep him quiet.”

Iden had to admit that she was excited about this. “I finished what I needed to do, so we can be off as soon as you’re ready.”

“You finished? When?”

“Between his third and fourth feedings.”

“Ahh.” Del had always known Iden had an odd sleep schedule, but after becoming a dad he’d adopted it too so he couldn’t say much. “You aren’t...scared of getting caught or something?”

“No, of course not.” Iden waved it off. “We have lives outside of war, Del. I just needed some help remembering that. And anyone who judges us can back off.”

“I like it.”Del admired. “I can carry him around if you’d like.”

“Now hold on a second.”Iden lifted Kalen securely into her arms.”I can handle him just fine.” 

As if on cue, Kalen began making tiny whimpering noises. Iden rose with him in her arms and walked to the kitchen to prepare another bottle. Del already had it covered, though, and handed it back to her.

“You know, what, Del? This is really fun.” 

“What?”

“This whole baby thing.”

“Oh.” Del felt himself flush inexplicably. “Did you… Did you ever see yourself becoming any kind of mother?” 

“Not at all.” Iden shook her head. “I always saw my future as the Empire’s, and I always supposed I would never get to be a mother. So I have no opinion of it. But this?” Iden lifted Kalen a bit in her arms. “This is nice.”

“I’m… I’m glad.” Del didn’t know how to tell her that he always dreamed of having children, but the Empire had taken that from him. And also, seeing Iden like this… Well.. he almost felt greedy, like he wanted Iden to spend all of her time with him and Kalen now. He didn’t know how to mention that he felt strong enough about Iden to the point that he wanted _her_ to be the mother of his children. 

It seemed ridiculous. Del had known Iden for… A year? Maybe, but he had been crushing on her since day one. And here she was, holding his son. It was enough to make him weak in the knees. 

He’d really noticed it during the Dreamers mission, how much he loved and admired her, and wanted nothing more than to tear Azen apart with his bare hands for touching her inappropriately. To hold her close and comfort her after Seyn died, even if she was his Commander and didn’t show any emotion whatsoever.

He… he wanted her to love him back.

Suddenly, he needed to turn away from her and Kalen. Iden was busy murmuring at the baby, but when she looked up and saw Del hunched over the counter like he couldn’t hold himself up, she reached out a hand to his shoulder. “Del?”

“Nothing.” He said, quickly straightening. “Are you ready to go?”

“Let’s try to get him back to sleep one more time.” Iden bit her lip and looked down. “Here. I’ve hogged him the whole night. You can have a turn. He’s… he’s your son, after all.”

Her hesitation made him wonder. Does she…

Before he could conclude anything, Iden began walking away towards the laundry and then to the ‘fresher to change out of his sight.

The last several hours seemed so surreal, Iden could hardly explain it. Part of her wondered if she was about to wake up, because there was _no way_ that Del had a secret child, a _baby,_ no less, and there was also no way that she could be feeling so _attached_ to said child. 

_I’ve only known Kalen for a day and a half, but if anything were to happen to him I would kill everybody in the room and then myself._

_Yeah, that’s it._

She walked back out to find Del on the couch, holding Kalen out so his body was perpendicular with his, and Del’s hand cupped his son’s tiny head.

It was the most adorable thing Iden had ever seen in her life. It was sad, too, because she could hear Del talking to him as if the baby could actually understand him. She quietly leaned on the wall so she could hear without being seen.

“I know you like her, buddy. I love her, too, but… I don’t know how she feels about us, okay? So maybe don’t… don’t get too attached? Don’t, like… suck on her anymore? I don’t know. Just remember she’s not your mother.”

A quiet gasp left Iden’s lips as she tried to make sense of what she was hearing. She felt like Kalen, staring up at Del and trying to understand.

_He… likes me?_

_No, he_ loves _me._

Iden slowly slid down the wall and listened as Del talked more. She had absolutely no idea that Del felt that way about her and honestly? She could warm up to the idea.

Not that romance had ever been on her mind, but…

Del was handsome. And tall, and broad, and sweet and smart. He knew how to treat her right, in a way that Hask, her old crush, never could. And, plus… she would never truly forgive Hask.

After another minute or so of Del pouring out his soul to the baby, Iden opened and shut a door to alert Del that she was returning. She wasn’t going to tell him what she’d heard, or how she felt about it yet. She was going to enjoy the day out with Del and Kalen.

And then she was going to figure out her own feelings.

* * *

Kalen slept easily most of the time (Iden could understand how Del’s lumbering strides could be lulling). 

True to her word, Iden made Del follow her into a boutique for some new shirts. Kalen was, at the time, in Iden’s arms, and he kept trying to latch but Iden wasn’t letting him in public and so he was getting very upset. Iden was surprised by the amount of… skimpy clothes there were, and could tell Del was too, and definitely noticed other women giving Del interested looks. She learned that handing him the baby fixed them pretty quick, and she also noticed that Del never stared back at anyone. 

Between getting Iden’s shirts (three nice and loose, thin material) and going to the “baby store”, they stopped so Del could give Kalen a bottle and that fixed his mood a bit as he almost forgot about his lack of Iden’s breast.

“Should I put him to sleep?”He asked her, and she shrugged. 

“Does keeping him up make him sleep better?”

“I… I don’t know. Probably not- I think it goes by how often he needs to eat.”

Iden reached out a hand and ran it through Kalen’s hair with a mother’s touch. “If he goes to sleep, that’s great. If not, oh well. But I am taking him back.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Iden had made a baby sling out of a blanket so she could have both of her hands free. Kalen snuggled contentedly against her chest and found her nipple in secret, covered by the blanket. 

“So what are we looking for?”

“Well.. I usually pick things out based on his height, not his weight, because his height seems to be the outlier, here.”

“He’s definitely a Meeko, then.” Iden joked. “Abnormally tall.” She almost said “long”, but luckily caught herself when she recognized the implications.

“I’d say he needs about three of the 0-3 month outfits, and maybe even a few 3-6 month already.” Del decided. “Just so we have them. I can go get the diapers, you pick out what you want.”

When it came to shopping, Iden wasn’t very difficult about it. She basically picked out the first things that looked good and then went on her way. She’d only been a little more strict getting her shirts because she needed the specific material. 

With all this baby clothes in front of her, however, she found herself looking upon everything with more scrutiny. She liked red, but it didn’t seem like a good color on Kalen. Blue seemed to suit him well, though, and she found herself looking into that more. Then she got distracted and...

“What have you found?”Del asked, after coming back with a sufficient box of diapers. 

Iden turned around and held up a hat, looking very proud of herself. A single hat. He’d been gone for ten minutes, and that was all she had found. They didn’t even _need_ a hat!

“Does that even fit him?” He wondered, with a raised eyebrow.

Iden guided Kalen’s head away from her chest and out of the sling so she could find out. It did fit, but it was too big and covered his eyes, and Kalen immediately fussed so much it fell right off.

“He doesn’t even _like_ hats.”Del pointed out. “The medcenter and my parents couldn’t get him into one, what makes you think you would?”

“Because I give him my breast, that’s why.”

Del laughed at her bluntness. “Fair point. But _please,_ let’s focus on the mission. I don’t like being out with too many crowds.”

Iden raised an eyebrow,”yes, sir.”

Del felt himself involuntarily flush, but together, he and Iden managed to find enough outfits and even a few tiny pairs of shoes for Kalen to wear. He had gone right back to sleep inside the sling and hadn’t fussed at all for the rest of the time they spent in the store.

“Del, look!” Iden held up a onesie that said, ‘cuter version of my dad’.

“What are you trying to say, huh?”

“Oh, nothing.”Iden rolled her eyes, then folded it up and put it in the bag with a ‘no arguments’ look on her face. “We’re getting it.”

“Okay.”

They didn’t just get it, Iden changed Kalen into it the moment they got back to the apartment and made Del take a holo holding his son. Del could finally hold him properly even if he squirmed.

“Let’s get him ready for a nap.” Del said when it was finished. He regarded Kalen a moment, as if he were just registering what the onesie said.

“When did he switch from being my nephew to my son?”

“I’m… I’m not sure, either.” Iden admitted. “But, Del, he _is_ . It doesn’t matter if you actually fathered him, anyway. You have him now, and when Kalen’s old enough he’s going to walk into _your_ arms, and he’s going to call _you_ dada, and all the other stuff kids do with their dads. You can tell him the truth, but that won’t change how he thinks of you.”

Del turned to Kalen. “Is that true?”

The baby responded by smacking his lips, a telltale sign that he was ready to eat. Del laughed and carried him to the kitchen, where he fixed a bottle and pressed it between Kalen’s lips.

“Hey, Del?” Iden asked quietly, coming up beside Del as he leaned on the counter. 

“Yeah?”

“I heard you talking to him earlier, before we left. You… you said you loved me?”

For a few moments, the only sounds were Kalen sucking on the bottle, and then a small burp as he finished. Del set the bottle down and placed Kalen on his shoulder, patting all the air bubbles from his system.

Then, finally, “yes. I do.”

“Oh.” Iden said quietly, looking down at her feet. “I don’t think anyone’s ever told me that before. Except my mother, obviously, but…”She trailed off as Del tensed. “I’m sorry, Del, I didn’t want to make things awkward. I just wanted to know if it was true. Because, the truth is… I care about you, too. In so many ways I can’t even describe them all.” Iden took a long breath.

“But you know we can’t do anything. Not… not while we’re still part of the Empire. We have jobs to do and we _have_ to follow orders. If we were to get involved, that would jeopardize our mission. So I think, for awhile...we have to just keep being friends.”

Del set his jaw as he listened. The baby had drifted off to sleep, but Del was still patting his back like it was therapeutic. Then, without another word, he turned and walked out of the kitchen and back to his bedroom. 

“Del, _please!”_ Iden went after him. “Please say something. Don’t just ignore me!”

Del turned around slowly after setting Kalen down. His voice was heavy. “I think you’re right.”

“But I would still like to take care of Kalen, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, sure.” He said, absently. “I can.. I can call you whenever I need you if you aren’t already here.”

_When I need you._

“Now, hold on, I’m not going anywhere right now-”

“You said it yourself. We leave for Ja- Bess in a day. You need to go brief to _Corvus_ crew, and get ready and prepared and-”

“Del…”

“ _Please_.” He whispered, in a painfully broken voice. “Just go.”

Iden began to back from the room, stunned at what she had done. She hadn’t mean to make Del upset, but he was just so emotionally vulnerable right now and.. He was never going to forgive her now. She’d ruined everything.

Dejectedly, she walked back to her apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

“Look at you, Del! This drinking habit of yours has got to stop! You look terrible!”

Hask greeted one sleep-deprived Del Meeko onto the  _ Corvus  _ a day later, and Iden couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

“Are you even  _ sober?”  _ Hask went on. “Commander, should we test him?”

“I think he’s fine.” Iden waved it off. Hask walked towards the holotable and Iden whispered to Del. 

“How’s he doing?”

“He misses you.” Del said back. “He kept looking at me like  _ I  _ was gonna give him a nipple to suck on. I had to walk around with my finger in his mouth just to keep him quiet.”

“Sorry, Del.” Iden apologized. “I do miss him, though.”

“Yeah.” He said absently. “He’s with my parents, now, so I can only imagine how that’s going.”

They stopped whispering when they approached Hask, and Iden went back into commander mode.

“This is to be an  _ incursion,  _ not an invasion. We are reinforcing the current battle. That’s all. We’ll all three be on the ground. Caton-“

The captain nodded from beside Del. 

“You keep the  _ Corvus  _ just inside the atmosphere.”

Del was a bit surprised that he wasn’t being told to stay with the  _ Corvus,  _ but he wasn’t complaining. Half of the stress of watching Hask and Iden go out without him was  _ watching Iden go out without him.  _ How was he supposed to help and protect her?

“What kind of weapons are you thinking?” Hask asked.

“The usual. Something tells me we’ll need our grappling hooks, though.” 

“Sure.”

“Del- I’d suggest configuring your blaster back to normal. Something tells me we won’t be able to do a lot of sniping.” 

“I’ll bring it along just in case and take one of the extra ‘17s.” Del amended and she nodded. She always forgot how strong he was, more than capable of several weapons at once, unlike her and Hask. 

For some reason her mind suddenly gave her an image of Del with several  _ kids  _ on his back, which she shook away quickly. 

_ No distractions. Keep an eye on your team.  _

Inferno waited for the drop zone, a few klicks from the enemy’s staging base, they would be like ghosts. In and out, before any of them were spotted. Even Del, the two-meter-tall giant could be unnaturally stealthy.

Iden wasn’t totally sure how she’d learned to distinguish between the two men once they had their helmets on. Unless they were talking, they were identical, even Del would stand in a way that made him nearly Hask’s height. But Del was broader, Hask slimmer. Hask’s height was his legs, whereas Del had quite a long torso. 

All those elements together accounted for their differences. Now, even with their identical weapons (Del had the sniper rifle on his back but out of sight), Iden could still tell that Hask was on her left, Del her right as they snuck through the alley.

“You can see the outpost.”Iden whispered. 

“We didn’t think there’d be artillery.” Hask murmured. 

It was true. The Rebels had an Imperial E-web cannon pointed in their direction, which put a crimp in their plans. Artillery meant they had sonar, likely thermal.

“Guess it’s a good job I decided to bring the rifle anyway.” Del mused, and there was likely the beginnings of a cocky grin on his mouth. Iden could imagine it: eyes twinkling, mouth upturned… the face he made when he looked at his son.

_ Focus, Iden. _

“Alright, Del. Get in position. Hask-”

The other man was already brandishing his grappling hook, but Iden shook her head. “You cover Del.”

For sake of working together, they would get along. But Hask looked mad, how dare Iden undermine his position! But no- she wasn’t meaning to do that. It wouldn’t be proper for her to send Hask to do  _ her  _ job, and she needed Del to stay safe so he could go home to Kalen.

Before he could protest, Iden was off, creeping through the shadows, just out of sight of searchlights and out of range of the artillery. This meant that she had made a complete circle. 

The detonators were heavy on her belt for some reason, and there was a feeling of dread in her stomach. Oh well… Del and Hask would do their jobs. They would do them well, and there was no reason for her to think otherwise.

* * *

  
  
  


“You’ve got her covered, right, Del?” 

“Yes, of course.”Del groaned. “Shut up and let me focus.”

He had scaled up the roof of a nearby building for a better angle on Iden’s position. She was currently scaling up the tower,invisible in her mostly black uniform. There were guards, but not very many given the main battle that was focused in the opposite direction. 

Del tensed, his finger on the trigger when he saw Iden freeze halfway up her climb. There was movement on the tower, and then one of the captured E-Webs changed directions so it, too, was facing towards the battle. 

They all counted to ten, and Iden continued to climb.

“You need to take out those gunners.” Hask reminded Del. “Iden will take care of the officer. But if you miss-”

“Shut up, Hask! I know!”

“It’ll be game over.”Hask finished anyway.

“Then it’s a good thing I don’t miss.” Del said, squinting through the scope. He followed Iden up the wall. 

Iden. 

_ Iden, _ who loved him back, but was too dedicated to the Imperial cause to admit it, who had friendzoned him in favor of a cause neither of them knew would succeed. 

Iden, who smiled at his son like she was his mother-

Del’s finger squeezed the trigger. A silent, deadly laser beam flew across the sky-

Or, at least, it was  _ supposed  _ to be silent. But the gunner Del hit fell, right in front of the wall where Iden had just climbed over. That meant the officer inside turned and saw her, and then-

“Dammit, you missed!” Hask screeched. 

“I know!” Del frantically shot another, and another- missing the officer who Iden grappled with and alerting the other gunner to the carnage and his position.

“Run!”

They jumped, and hit the ground at a roll, their tall bodies shortening the fall and absorbing most of the shock. Del frantically looked back at Iden and his heart stopped. The other gun was too big and bulky to maneuver to hit her, but both the gunner and the Rebel commander had guns on their own. 

They shot Iden halfway down her descent. Shot her in the back, and Del was too frantic to remember that the droid would likely take most of the damage as he saw Iden fall hard and roll on the pavement, and go still.

_ I... I missed it. I screwed up. I hurt her. I- _

Hask was running, but Del knew he had to finish the mission. He had more ammunition than his shaking hands could screw up, and then the E-webs were secured and a stormtrooper vanguard was on its way to reclaim them. The only thing holding back the Empire had been the Rebel controlled cannons. That had been Inferno’s mission after all- eliminate the cannons so the troopers could advance, and overwhelm the rebels with their sheer numbers. 

So they succeeded, in a way.

Hask came running back towards Del with Iden slung over his shoulder. Del couldn’t tell if she was conscious or not, but seeing her slung over Hask’s shoulder like that… He felt his eyes narrow. He may have been feeling  _ overprotective _ , perhaps.

Hask was cursing Del as they ran, but Del didn’t hear, All he cared about now was getting Iden to safety, so he could take off her helmet and make sure she still breathed. The droid on her back was a smoking mess, but Del knew it was easily repairable with new casing and some patience, something to work on when Kalen was asleep, perhaps.

The pair boarded the hidden shuttle and Del threw himself into the pilot’s chair, anxiety leading his practiced hands to hit too many buttons at once and mess up the sequence for launch.

‘Well.” Hask grunted after sitting himself. “She  _ did _ say this was supposed to be an incursion- we were in and out of there in half an hour.”

Not amused, Del left his seat and went to check on where Iden was slumped over in her chair. He gently slipped off her helmet and then unclipped the damaged droid from her back.

“She’s alive.”Del reported, seeing Iden’s chest and mouth move.

“Well, yeah. That’s why I brought her back.” Hask said, and Del sent him a glare, hoping that wasn’t his only reasoning. But, of course, leave it to the psychopath to even abandon their commander’s body.

“Captain, make sure that the medbay’s ready for our return.” Del said into the comm. He didn’t elaborate much, just enough to tell her that it wasn’t fatal. As far as he could tell she just needed bacta on her back and a fix for her obviously broken leg.

He’d made a mistake. He’d gotten distracted, and now Iden was hurt. Maybe she had been right. Maybe he really did need a break- or to retire. 

“You going to run away from this, too, Del?” Hask said without looking up. “Go wherever it is you go at night.”

“That’s none of your business, Hask.” Del retorted. “Even if I did, if Iden doesn’t mind it, I’ll keep doing it.”

“Iden’s not going to let you be a part of this team anymore, after that shit back there.” Hask pointed out, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t know what the Admiral was thinking, picking some random engineer like you, first mission and you’re running off to drink every night. You aren’t fit to fight, much less be part of an elite team-”

The ship lurched as Del kicked the back of Hask’s chair. Del hadn’t realized Inferno’s second in command had taken the controls. Iden fell forward too, and Del held her with one arm. “ _ Never say that again.”  _

“Why not? It’s true. You know what happens to soldiers who get their commanders hurt… You’ll be lucky you don’t get court martialed.”

“I didn’t hurt her!”

“You may as well have shot her.”

“You want to talk like that? Okay, well-” Del’s eyes were blazing. “At least  _ I  _ didn’t shoot half a dozen  _ unarmed  _ men and women who-”

“They were rebels, Del!” Hask screamed back.

“And we are soldiers! Iden knew the risk- You’re acting like friendly fire doesn’t exist in the Empire, like the Admirals couldn’t just decide that all the lesser soldiers aren’t worth it and kill us all with the power of a few words! No, until you’ve been forced to fire upon  _ your own comrades,  _ to leave your own  _ brother  _ behind, to sacrifice a few for the many, you can  _ shut your damn mouth!” _

The younger man said nothing, but he wasn’t happy about it. Del won this round, but only because Hask knew if he egged him on any longer he’d become a hazard. “I’ll give it to you, Del. I was never a trooper like you are. Just don’t go hiding behind that anytime you make a mistake.”

Del never hid behind it. He had taken responsibility for his mistake, and made sure that Iden was covered and taken care of even if Hask was the one who rescued her. So when they landed and the ramp fell, Del disembarked carrying Iden to the medbay, an aggrieved Hask behind him. He eventually branched off to the bunk room, while Del continued on. 

What he didn’t know was that Iden had been awake since before he and Hask had argued. She had just kept her eyes closed.

“Del?” She murmured.

Surprised, he looked down. “Iden! I am so sorry-”

“Hask is a real jerk,”she interrupted, and Del chuckled a bit.

“You’re right.”He agreed, “But I’m still sorry.”

“Go spend some time with Kalen, you’ll feel better then.”

“No, I need to make sure you’re okay first, Commander.” He only added the address because they had entered the medbay and he was setting her down. 

Iden’s hand brushed his. “Del? That’s an order.”

His last look at her before medics swarmed her was wistful, yet thankful.

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

After a surgery to fix her leg, Iden awoke high as a kite on pain meds, with Hask frowning in front of her.

“Good. You’re awake.” He said, getting right to business. “We need to do something about Del. He needs to be… reassigned or something. He’s not fit for this team anymore.”

Iden had a feeling she had heard these words before, but couldn’t remember where. She couldn’t remember anything, right now- “Why?”

“Because he screwed up and got you hurt!” Hask exclaimed. 

“You screwed up, too.” Iden reminded him in a moment of clarity. “All I did was ground you.”

“Come on, that’s different. Del has a real _problem._ He needs to _go.”_ Hask just couldn’t understand why nobody understood his perfectly sound logic- the man was endangering them all with his habits! One of these days he was going to fall asleep on the job! 

“He can’t go.”Iden protested, waves of dizziness overtaking her. “I’ll miss him.”

“ _Miss_ him?” Hask shook his head in disbelief. “Iden, he almost got you _killed._ Why would you still need him around?”

“Because of the baby, silly.” Iden said, like it was obvious. “Can I go back to sleep?”

“What baby?” Hask said, brows narrowing. He cast a glance to her belly like he could just tell by looking at her. “You didn’t…”

“I’m going back to sleep.”Iden announced, and turned onto her other side if only to get him to leave her alone. Her back and her head hurt, and she regretted sending Del away. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted him to bring Kalen up so she could hold him and see him.

Meanwhile, a very confused Hask walked away from her bed and pulled aside the head medic, Rysio Donnall.

“I need you to run some tests on her.”He said, grasping the medic’s upper arm. “But keep it quiet.”

“What tests?” Donnall frowned, obviously put off by Hask’s request. 

The blonde haired man leaned in closer to hide his voice. “Pregnancy.” Then he leaned back and ignored his surprised face. “Take care of it, if need be. Thanks.” He gave the older man two hard pats on the back and walked off, Donnall staring after him. 

* * *

After waking up for good, Iden had no memory of her discussion with Hask. She stepped out of bed, grabbed the change of clothes, and limped to the ‘fresher to shower and change. Her leg was broken, yeah, but it was knit together nicely by a splint and bacta was ensuring quick healing to the point she could put enough weight on it to walk.

And walk she did, straight out of the fresher and straight out of the _Corvus._

The landing pads on Coruscant were huge, and in their own district. Iden was stubborn enough to make herself walk all the way, but instead she just hailed a speeded to get to the upper level apartments faster. 

She needed to fix things with Del.

He blamed himself for her getting hurt, and that on top of her basically friendzoning him earlier likely wasn’t good.

Still, she hesitated at his door. 

_What if he hates me? What if he doesn’t want to talk?_

With no second guesses, Iden humbled herself and knocked on the door.

Faintly, she heard Kalen crying in the background. It was 0755, nearly one of his feeding times. 

Just as she was about to turn away because she thought Del was ignoring her, the door slid open. He held Kalen in the crook of his arm, and the baby momentarily stopped fussing to look at Iden. Then he went back to staring at Del and smacking his lips. 

“May I come in?” Iden asked, looking at her feet.

“You shouldn’t be walking around, Iden, you have a broken leg!” Del protested, ever the worrier. 

“I’m fine with bacta.” Iden responded. “And I needed to see you. Both of you. But mostly you.”

“Please, sit down.” 

Del met her on the couch once he had grabbed a bottle for Kalen, and once the baby was busy eating Iden began.

“I know it sounds cheesy, but this whole thing today… it really made me realize how- how _silly_ I sounded a few days ago. Naive, even. It was like I forgot that a relationship has two members.” 

“I heard what you said to Hask about your time as a stormtrooper. That was so _terrible,_ Del, and I’m so sorry it happened. I understand everything, now. How _protective_ you are, but for a good reason. I understand how hard it must be for you to get attached to someone, because you’re afraid something is going to happen to them.” 

When she took a breath to speak, Del made a noise like he wanted to say something, but stopped. 

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Del.” Iden concluded, and she reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. Electricity danced down his spine and he closed his eyes briefly. “I’m… I’m so happy that you love me. I’m sorry for undermining it.” 

She carefully scooted closer to him, mindful of her leg as she leaned against his shoulder. Del’s head leaned down to meet hers as they both watched the baby in his arms. 

“I see you kept his onesie.” Iden pulled a bit at it to see the writing again. 

“My parents thought it was adorable. They washed it and put it right back on him.”

“Do they know he’s really…”

“Yes. I told them. But they actually knew in advance. I guess Inferno kept me away more than I would like to admit.” 

“So why didn’t Kalen go to them?” Iden asked, curiously. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Because I was the godfather _and_ the next of kin. Cade didn’t have anything down for them at all. Neither of my brothers really… I mean, they aren’t bad people but I don’t think they were very good sons.”

“And you are?”

“I try to be.” Del leaned forward to set the empty bottle on the table. “And I hope to set a good example for this little guy here.” He held a very satisfied Kalen up for burping, and then turned to Iden, asking silently if she wanted a turn. Of course she did- but she had to go change into one of the shirts she’d gotten for just that purpose. 

“Can’t have you messing up my dress clothes.” She cooed. “I’ve seen you spit up on your dad, I don’t want any of that.” 

Del chuckled, and Kalen’s body bounced a bit. Iden changed into a dark navy blue thin tee-shirt and came back, reclaiming her position lying against Del. Again, he leaned his head in, and she felt his lips brush her head. 

Surprised, she looked up at him, and saw the look in his green eyes. Because sitting here with her in his arms, seeing her hold his son to her chest….

And for Iden, to be the one in that position….

Screw it.

“I love you, Del.” She whispered. 

He really did kiss her, now, his warm lips on her forehead. Iden wanted more, but… she didn’t know how to ask for it. She prayed for Kalen to go to sleep so she could put him down and figure things out herself, but he wasn’t near done yet. In fact, he fussed so much she readjusted him to her other breast and he continued soothing himself to sleep.

“Hold me, Del.” Iden whispered. “Hold us. Hold your family in your arms and never let us go.” 

The couch creaked as he adjusted himself a bit, and then Iden’s head was against his chest, listening to his heartbeat while he breathed in her scent through her shoulder and gently kissed her neck.

There was no telling which of the trio fell asleep first.


	6. Chapter 6

Del woke up first, his mental clock doing the job for him. He wanted nothing more than to let Iden sleep, but knew that it was impossible with the baby. 

“Iden…” he kissed her neck. “Iden, why don’t you go sleep in the bed, you’ll be comfortable and you can sleep longer.”

“No.” She murmured back. “ I wanna stay with you.”

“Iden, please sleep…” 

“No.” She began to sit up, and gently laid Camden on his chest to go get a bottle. 

“Iden if you don’t get some rest I will carry you in there.”

“Fine.” Iden relented, “but you have to come and take your naps with me. You’re warm. I’m not gonna give that up.”

“Fine.” 

They trudged together for the bedroom, where Iden climbed in and fell right back to sleep. Del sat beside her and fed Camden, and then set him back in his cot and pulled Iden into his arms. She made a slight noise, but said nothing as his arms wrapped around her securely. 

The last time Del had slept beside someone this close before… (well, excluding Camden) had been when he was ten years old and younger, and he and his brother Elias would have nightmares and hold each other. Everyone just went with it because they were twins, and twins were inexplicably close.

Iden could tell that he wasn’t really holding her that sweetly, per say. His arms were around her and squeezing and it was almost tight, but she welcomed it because, in her mind, she deserved it. She’d been a terrible friend to Del, and he deserved better.

But she was willing to learn.

Smiling a bit, Iden turned as much as she could and ran her gentle hands up the side of his face and cupped his cheek. Del leaned into it, and Iden was surprised at the result… She had seen him with a full beard, she had seen him with stubble, but his face was so smooth, and so unfitting of the warrior forced from a gentle man’s heart.

Something about his body was reassuring, maybe the strength or reach it had to engulf her. Del had a body that didn’t exactly match his demeanor, but she wasn’t complaining. 

He hummed and mumbled in his sleep a bit, and she dropped her hand, snuggling close for what might be the last night she ever got to explore something like this, explore what it felt like to be loved. She burrowed close enough to learn the smell of Del to the point that she was almost positive she could pick him out of a crowd: his own cologne, a smidge of engine oil, and a bit of sweat and shampoo.

Del found it extremely hard to get out of bed at the right times with Iden beside him, mostly because once he left Iden’s body bounced back to doing whatever it was she did in her natural sleep, which was: move around a lot. Del was going to be kicked out of his own bed if he wasn’t careful, as even Iden’s bacta-casted leg was invading his side of the bed, and Iden was all sprawled out like the starfish he had seen on the beaches of Scarif.

But he let her sleep, and returned to her side when Camden allowed. 

The baby would be one month old in two days, which was a milestone in itself because Del was slightly alarmed at how fast he had grown. But, babies tended to do that, and Del just hoped he wouldn’t miss anything too badly. His worst fear was that he was going to leave on a mission and come back to Camden having learned how to walk or talk, even though Inferno’s missions rarely lasted that long.

When the bed creaked with his weight, Iden murmured and turned on her back, sprawling out until Del gathered her body back up in his arms and they slept until a reasonable time.

“Del?” Iden asked, not even opening her eyes. 

“Yeah?”

“We should do something for Camden’s birthday.” Iden murmured.

“Birthday?”

“He’s gonna be a month old, isn’t he? I heard you talking to him earlier. We should do something. Take a few pictures.” She turned her head to look at him. “We need to make sure he’s getting some time on his belly so he can learn how to lift his head.”

“Oh, yeah?” Del asked, smiling. “Where’d you learn all that?”

“I did some reading in the medbay while I was healing. About babies. It’s really interesting, actually.”

“Oh yeah? Tell me some more.” 

“If you promise to help me take holos! I want some for when we’re away from him.” Iden grinned and rolled away.

“Fine.” Del sat up and watched her walk around the bed. 

“I’m taking a shower.” Iden announced.

“Be careful with your leg!” Del reminded her as she shut the door with a flourish. He sighed and picked up Camden as he walked into the kitchen to prepare a bottle and some breakfast. He wouldn’t forget some caf for Iden. 

As he fried some eggs, Camden began to wake up and demand attention. Del wished for an extra set of hands before he remembered Iden’s trick with the blanket. He did his best to mimic the sling she’d made across his chest and then used his non-dominant right hand to hold the bottle for him and cooked with the other.

There was the sound of laughter behind him. Del turned, and saw Iden wringing out her hair and coming closer. “You look like a regular housewife,” she teased.

“I only have two hands, and I would have burnt my breakfast otherwise.” Del said, handing her some caf.

“He has a carrier.”

“It was in the ‘fresher from when I used it while I shaved.” Del said, flushing slightly. “I wasn’t going to interrupt your shower.”

“Oh, you weren’t?” Iden pouted playfully and made him flush darker. “Hey, remember to work on the droid after you eat.”

“Ok.”

Iden’s commlink chirped as she sipped the caffeinated beverage. Curiously she answered it. “This is Commander Versio.”

“Commander, this is Rysio Donnall, the medic. Lieutenant Hask had asked me to run a test on you the other night, but I think you need to come in for more testing.”

“What?!” Iden exclaimed. “What kind of test did he want!”

“He… erm, he seemed to think you are pregnant, ma’am.” 

Iden actually laughed a bit and gave Del a look like, “get a load of this.” But the medic wasn’t finished.

“The thing is, the preliminary results say that you  _ are _ pregnant, ma’am.”

Silence for a moment. Del dropped his fork, and Camden’s lip trembled at the noise.

“That is certainly not true. I’ll spare you the details, but- I’m not pregnant. I  _ couldn’t _ be. And I know if I was I would be relieved of duty, so it’s safe to say I’m not.”

“That’s what I thought, ma’am. It’s just my job to inform you and suggest further testing if you wish it.”

“It’s not necessary.” Iden growled, trying to keep her temper. “Why could it have shown up as positive, though?”

“There are a number of factors, the most likely one being that you were under heavy medication for the surgery.” 

“Okay, good. Tell Lieutenant Hask that he is to stay out of my business no matter what he thinks. I’m not going to discipline you because I know he just pulled rank. But don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, of course, Commander.”

Iden shut off the commlink with a huff. Del looked at her with an intrigued turn of the head.

“I must have had a talk with Hask while I was high on painkillers.” Iden said. “He seems to think I’m pregnant. With you.”

“Oh.” Del chuckled a bit. “Well… we do sort of have a baby, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, that may have been who I was talking about while I was loopy.” Iden smiled at Camden, who was doing his best to hold his head up and look at her from Del’s arms.

_ That was an interesting point I realized, though.  _ Iden thought.  _ About my being pregnant means I am relieved of duty. _

“Give him here.” Iden said, holding out her arms for the baby. Del complied, and began eating with less hindrance. She carried Camden over to the couch where he could be comfortably laid on his belly as she supervised. The baby babbled and tried to reach for her. 

“He’s getting so strong.” Iden called to Del, as Camden gripped her finger with his tiny hand.

“Now just imagine if there were two of him. That’s what my parents went through with me and my brother Elias.”

Iden was careful to watch Camden for any signs of struggle, though, and picked him back up as soon as he looked upset. 

“How about those holos, any ideas?” She asked.

“Not really. But I’ll send them to my parents, too.” 

“Speaking of which.” Iden sat down next to him. “When do I get to meet them?”

“Meet who?”

“Your parents.”

Del loosed a chuckle. “You don’t get it, Iden. If I take you to meet my parents I may as well marry you, too.”

“Oh?”

“It’s that serious. They’re waiting on me to find a wife and I don’t want them running you off. Especially now that I have Camden. They want me to find a woman to have by my side.”

“They don’t think you can do it alone?” Iden asked, puzzled. 

“It’s a culture thing.” Del shrugged because even he didn’t know. 

“Well… Okay, then.” Iden said, and then thought a bit. “I want a holo of you and him at least. Maybe do what you did where you held his face next to yours. That was cute, even if I was too shocked to pay real attention. He can wear the onesie that I found.”

“You do realize we have a day to plan this, right?” Del asked, amused.

“Hush. I’m task oriented.”

Del knew that.

“How many credits do you have?” She asked curiously. “We should get him at least one cute outfit.”

“Credits are no object.” Del said. “Not when it comes to him. Or you.”

He didn’t know why he added the last part but she didn’t seem to notice.

“We can go out again.” Del added. “It’ll be a bit later, but we can catch some lunch, too.”

“I can’t remember the last time I ate at a restaurant.” Iden said, already imagining what it would taste like. “But, won’t it be hard with Camden along?”

“You can do your sling trick again.” Del suggested. 

“You’re right.” Iden said, putting up her hair. Del didn’t understand how she could do it without a mirror and watched, admiring. Then she wrapped the blanket around herself like she’d seen her mother carry her in old pictures. Camden settled into it well, curling up like it was his own personal hammock.

Del grabbed his wallet as he followed her out the door. 

* * *

“One cute outfit” turned out to be two, but it was a sale and not all too expensive anyway, and Del enjoyed watching Iden have fun and look so… normal. It was another side of her, like the one where she snuggled up to him, that had been constantly hidden in the past. 

The repaired seeker droid had followed Iden out the door like a pet before Del shooed it back into the apartment. They didn’t need him drawing attention, but now Del secretly wished he were here to record scenes and pictures he was seeing play out in front of him.

“Did you hear what the cashier told me?” Iden asked, taking a sip of her drink.

“No. I was feeding him a bottle on the bench.”

“She said, ‘your son looks just like his father’. And I was so stunned I just said ‘thank you’.”

Del chortled. “Thank you?”

“What? Was I supposed to explain the whole situation to a stranger?” 

“No. I just think it’s kind of... funny the way you handle things, sometimes.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow as she patted Camden’s back against her chest. He cooed, softly, and Iden smiled a bit. Then she looked up at Del and it fell a bit. 

“Hey, Del.” She said.

He stopped chewing part of his lunch. “Yeah?”

“I was thinking about something. I realized this the other day but… Hask made me remember. I just… I find it odd that in the Imperial Navy, if a woman gets pregnant she is relieved of duty for a substantial amount of time, in order to protect her and the baby and allow her to take care of him. But, if there’s a man who becomes a father, no one seems to care-“

“Iden.” Del interrupted, tipping his head back with his eyes closed. “This isn’t getting into talk about sexism is it? We know it’s there. We don’t need to talk about it.”

“It’s the reverse of that, actually.” Iden continued. “The bureaucracy seems to think that a child can live without a father, but he can’t live without a mother.”

“Well that’s… that’s just how society is.” Del told her. “There are definitely more single mothers than fathers. And that’s just because men are not the greatest. You, of all people, should also notice that mothers are  _ very  _ important.”

Iden’s heart hurt for her own mother. “I know but, what I’m saying is… that discrepancy doesn’t account for people like you. If you were to die, and that’s a  _ big  _ if, Camden would have  _ no one,  _ except your parents or possibly a distant relative on his mother’s side. That isn’t fair to him. Or you.” Iden narrowed her eyebrows. “I still think you should get time off.”

“Iden, for the last time-“ Del ran his hands down his face. “I don’t mind leaving him with my parents.”

“You should.” Iden insisted. “They can’t be the biggest fit for parents.”

“And trust me, I know the risks of fighting. But I also know what may happen if I  _ don’t _ . I’m not fighting for myself anymore. I’m fighting for  _ him _ , and so the galaxy will be better for him and that he has a dad coming back to him.” Del heaved a long sigh. 

“It’s been awhile since I wanted to live.” He admitted. But Camden has furthered his resolve. “I may think twice before doing something too suicidal. Like jumping off of a building with active artillery.”

“Okay, but-“ Iden leaned forward with a gleam in her eye. “What if we did it  _ in space?” _

“Iden,  _ no.” _

“Yes.” She insisted. “It would be so cool!”

“Yes, it would be, because space is cold and just a few moments out there could cause you to freeze to death!”

“Ok, but- it would be  _ fun.” _

“Iden,  _ no.”  _ He repeated.

“Iden,  _ yes.  _ I’m the commander and if I want to do something crazy you better just be there to catch me, because being slung over Hask’s shoulder and staring at his butt was  _ not  _ as exciting as you may think.”

Del snorted. “Are you saying you’d rather stare at my butt?”

Iden opened her mouth and ended up flushing a bit. “I’m not going to answer the question.”

“So you  _ don’t  _ like my butt?” 

“Del, we are in  _ public!”  _ Iden hissed, and had to look down to make sure Camden was okay. He was trying for her breast, so she readjusted the sling that he was hidden from view. 

“Sure, sure.” Del laughed. “Avoid the question.”

Iden was still definitely  _ not  _ going to answer. It’s not like she had been interested enough at Del’s butt to stare, but there were more exciting parts of him in her opinion. Like… 

Well. She wasn’t going to finish that thought either.

Seeing her messing with Camden, Del figured it may have been time to go. “Are you finished?” 

He didn’t know why he’d asked. Iden had eaten more than him, somehow, though he couldn’t tell where it had all gone or where her appetite had come from. Even he had left part of his steak unfinished.

“Yeah. Let’s go, Meeko.” 

He left enough credits on the table and stood up, waiting for her to do the same. The gentleman inside of him made him to walk on her left side to avoid her hitting traffic, but he knew logically that Iden could take care of herself. 

“How heavy do you think he’s going to get by the time he can walk?” She asked.

“Oh…. ten kilos? Why?”

“I’d better start working on my arms, then.” She said sarcastically.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Del was more than sure, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud.

They walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way. 

* * *

Hanging around Camden put Iden in  _ such  _ a good mood that she released Hask from his month-long time-out as long as he promised to be a good boy and eat his vegetables and not  _ murder _ anyone.

And, as promised, Iden and Del took holos of Camden on his one-month “birthday”. He’d gained a few kilos and Iden swore he was smiling.

And, thank the force, he began sleeping for up to six hours at a time. 

It was almost bittersweet, because as he slept more he needed less cuddling and attention, and at one point Iden had just crawled so she was practically in Del’s lap and ordered him to hold her because she missed the feeling of warmth.

So Del held her as she slept, and then he fell asleep, too, holding her hand and tucking his chin onto her shoulder. When they woke up, neither would address what had happened. 

When months and missions had passed, full of missing Camden and looking out for each other and hoping Hask didn’t suspect anything, they came undone. Iden kissed Del, pushing him into the wall of his bedroom. It lasted several, sweet moments, and then Iden was begging,  _ begging  _ for him to take her to bed. Not ordering,  _ begging. _ And Del gave in and obeyed. 

Iden woke first after that night, and sat up in bed quickly when she realized what had happened. For a few, short moments she  _ was _ panicked, until Del opened an eye and she remembered  _ who  _ she had done.

“Are you alright?” He murmured.

“Del.” Iden started, lying back down and flicking his nose. “You scream yourself hoarse for most of the night and you want to ask  _ me _ if  _ I’m  _ alright.”

“Fair point.” Del laughed a bit, but saw her eyebrows fold together. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. I’m just thinking…” Iden began counting on her fingers, and Del panicked, shooting up into a sitting position.

“You’re- you’re on the hypo, aren’t you? Do I need to go get something? Some morning after or whatever?”

“What?” Iden blanched at him. “No. I’m just counting…  _ theoretically, of course,  _ how much older Camden  _ would  _ be if you happened to get me pregnant. And yes, I’m on the hypo.”

Del breathed a sigh of relief. “So you don’t think you could be pregnant?”

“No. And even if I was going to be, I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve been getting shots since my periods began.” 

“Why? Surely you weren’t planning on… having sex?”

“No!” Iden exclaimed, blushing. “It’s just to make my period more bearable.” 

“Oh.” Del looked thoughtful for a few moments. “Iden, correct me if I’m wrong, but you almost sound like you… like you  _ want  _ to get pregnant.” 

She didn’t immediately deny it. “Well… I mean…” she stopped talking to look at him and collect her thoughts. 

“If I were to get pregnant, I would get leave. We talked about this.” 

“Yes…” Del turned on his side and propped himself up on his elbow, shivering a bit at the cool air and also where this conversation seemed to be going.

“That last mission we went on? It made me realize how close we can get to not coming back. Camden’s almost a year old now, Del. He can’t afford to lose you.” 

“And to make up for it, you think I should get you pregnant?”

“I don’t know if you realize this, Del, but if I were to be killed it wouldn’t be the end of the world.” She held up her hand to stop him from speaking. “But, if you were to be killed, Camden would lose you. And that… can’t happen.” 

“So you’re saying-“

“Please, let me finish.” Iden held up a hand to stop him again. “I’m not even thirty yet. I haven’t finished my contract. I can’t retire. I can’t resign. If you were to die today, I wouldn’t be able to take care of Camden in your place. You, however,  _ can  _ retire. You’ve done your contracts several times over. If you were to resign you can just plead distress for your PTSD. Then Camden would have you for good.”

“So you want me to retire?” Del wondered. “No. I won’t. Either both of us get to watch him, or neither of us. You heard him the other day, Iden. Camden called you “mama.””

“I know, Del. And I want to be his mother.”

“And I want to raise him with you. Co-parenting, or whatever.”

“Which brings me back to what I said originally.” Iden summed up. “If I were to get pregnant, then I would have enough reason to resign. Then you can plead discharge also.”

“You would do that?” Del wondered.

“You may have found that Camden may have lowered my inhibitions a bit. Yes, I’ll resign, but only if you retire.” Iden reached out and cupped his chin. “Besides. I think I have sufficient evidence to say you’d make some really cute babies.” 

“You do know I could be court-martialed for sleeping with you, right?” Del wondered.

“I’ll just say that I made it an order and nobody will argue too much.” Iden waved it off.

“You’re impossible.”

“It’s why you love me.”

“You’re right.” Del sighed melodramatically before leaning over and stealing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “So, uh…How soon would you like to see one of those cute babies?”

Iden giggled, a beautiful sound, and then Del was kissing her again. 


	7. Chapter 7

They weren’t “trying” trying, but Iden still found herself a bit disappointed when her cycle came every month. She could always tell when Del was thinking about it, too, because his hands would snake around her belly and settle there, and every time she would have to say “no, Del.”

But Camden was finally at an age where he grasped some of what went on. He was old enough to play with, and could tell when Del was about to leave. He would say “bye-bye”, and wave an adorable little hand as Del walked out the door (if he even made it that far before coming back for one last hug).

Now everytime Del returned from a mission he brought something for his son: a toy, a candy, maybe a new outfit. Del was now, officially, “dada”. Sometimes Camden would even slip up and call Iden “mama”, but she didn’t correct him. 

Their worst crisis had been when Camden was thirteen months old and fell ill with a fever of some kind. Del had stayed up with him all night and told Iden to stay away as a precaution. She didn’t, though, and ended up taking care of two sick boys when the week was over, though she suspected Del was only sick with exhaustion. 

And she was about to get sick with disappointment. Hanging with Camden didn’t help her at all, and neither did Del constantly reminding her that she wasn’t any less of a woman for not getting pregnant, nor did she need to feel pressured into having a baby. Iden had never thought of herself as a woman who would _want_ a baby, but that was because up until exploring her relationship with Del she had never thought for herself. 

Iden Versio had baby fever, and she was not ashamed to admit it. 

Going on missions helped distract her a bit. She and Del would sit up talking together and looking at holos and videos of Camden. If Hask suspected anything, he never said, but there was no doubt he was suspicious of their time spent together.

* * *

They had a simple mission, one to a grossly Imperial planet in order to investigate some suspicious activity among some of the natives. Rebel, possibly, but they needed someone who could go undetected as an investigating force.

Admiral Versio sent Inferno Squad.

It turned out to be eerily similar to the fateful Dreamers’ mission. They were supposed to investigate a group of agents similar to Inferno Squad. It wasn’t as incognito as the Dreamers, though, as there was a change they could be recognized already. They didn’t need names changed, and more personal details about the squad weren’t public knowledge.

“You boys ready for this?” Iden asked, looking at both of them in their dress wear: tunics and trousers.

“Hopefully it won’t be quite as long as the last trip.” Hask said dryly, smoothing a hand through his hair. Part of it was still sticking up anyway, and Iden resisted the urge to fix it back to standards. If it was Del, she probably would have done it anyway.

“Ah, Inferno Squad,” greeted Governor Bialy Jame. She looked as if she were a bit older than Iden, but still younger than Del or Hask. Her uniform was pressed to perfection, giving an aura about her that reminded Iden of Seyn. 

A knot set in her stomach at the memories.

“Welcome to Kuat.” 

“Good to be home…”Hask said quietly. Iden wasn’t too worried about him, she knew he knew how to keep his head on straight. He seemed especially rattled once he saw that they had flown past the shipyard ring and settled on the planet itself. 

“If you’ll come this way I can show you to your rooms and then we can rendezvous for dinner.”

“That sounds great, thank you.” Iden accepted the invitation. She was looking forward to having a moment to lay down. Her stomach was unsettled and she was unusually tired. 

“Wow.” Del breathed, looking around. “It’s beautiful here. Last time I was outside like this I didn’t have enough time to soak it all in.” 

“I thought grass was green.” Iden murmured. 

“It’s not grass, it’s wheat. You know, the stuff they make bread out of.”

“We know what wheat is, Hask.” Del rolled his eyes. “I just didn’t know Kuat grew it.”

“Every planet has to have some agriculture, else how will its citizens eat?” 

“Fair point.”

Their chat lasted the length of the walk. When they’d reached their assigned rooms, Commander Jame left them as promised. 

“Looks here like we’ll be going separate. Girls and guys?” Hask gestured to the two key cards.

“So it seems.” Iden gave Del a sidelong glance, knowing full well that he would likely sneak into her room, or maybe not even sneak once he and Hask realized the _actual_ sleeping arrangements. 

As she unpinned her hair, there was a knock at the door.

_There it is._

“Come in.” 

“We think you’ve got the wrong room, Iden.” Hask said. “Ours has only got one bed.”

“Oh, right.” She pretended to remember. “Sorry. Agent Hask, _you_ are the only person who will be doing the infiltrating. Agent Meeko and I will be your informants and be found around the day. _We_ are disguised, in case there are rebel sympathizers. Not you. I would be too recognizable, and we need Del for the encryption.”

Del almost snickered. Iden was a genius! Hask wasn’t going to call her on her bluff. 

“I see.” Hask said after a moment. “So, like Del and I taught ourselves to be brothers, you-“

“Will learn how to be a presentable couple. Come on in, Del.” Iden said, opening the door for him.

Del gave Hask a “sorry” look over his shoulder and came inside. 

“Do I need to disguise myself further?” Hask wondered. “I know I have never been much in the spotlight, but we can’t be too careful.”

”Maybe just... don’t shave for a few days. And do something with your hair. Obviously you won’t be wearing your uniform. You should be fine.”

Hask nodded. “See you later.”

“You’re a genius, did you know that?” Del asked, gathering her in his arms once she shut the door. 

“Hmm. Yeah.” Iden giggled a bit, then slipped from his grip. “I need to take a nap before this dinner. I’m not feeling well.”

“Is it… _that_ time?”

“Yeah, I- I’m gonna get some sleep.”

And she tried, like she always did when her cycle was in full swing and she felt like doing nothing else. She’d even changed out of her uniform to sleep well.

But something was on her mind. The fact that her cycle… hadn’t come. Or, she’d had a bit of spotting a week late. 

“I think I need to test, Del.” She said, after Del was sure she’d gone to sleep and sat down on the bed beside her.

His eyes lit up as he turned his head. Really?”

“Yeah. I can’t explain it. I have a feeling. I just… I don’t want to do it in the medcenter in case… you know.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” He sat down beside her. “So like, after dinner?” 

“I think so.” She reached for his hand and squeezed. “Well, I hope tonight’s meeting isn’t too important.”

“It’s more for Hask, anyway.” Del agreed. “Well… This doesn’t make it that hard to pretend anymore. Not that it ever would have been.”

“We’re going to have some fun with this.”Iden agreed. “I have a feeling Hask is going to get pissed.”

“Isn’t that a bonus?” Iden smiled, leaning against Del’s shoulder. 

“I suppose.” Del leaned in for a kiss which she responded eagerly. 

“I’m suddenly feeling better.” She murmured.

“Yeah, good. You have a mission to plan.”

“But it’s not my mission, Del.”She countered, a gleam in her eyes. “You and I just get to have a little time to ourselves. No Hask, no baby… Well.” She glanced down to her belly.

“You should have waited to tell me.” He teased, kissing her cheek. “I’ll never stay focused, now.”

“I’ve been waiting to tell you for months, Del.” Iden thought of all the memories of months past, of the disappointment. “But don’t get your hopes up. It could just be a fluke, or…”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that.” Del kissed her cheek. “I’m just gonna hope.” His hands snaked around her middle. 

”Hope.” Iden echoed, as she relaxed into his touch.

* * *

Hask met up with them on the way to dinner. Iden hadn’t bothered to put her hair back up, so it fell loosely down her back and curled slightly. Hask was staring (he’d rarely seen Iden like that), and Del found himself getting unnecessarily protective. 

“So, what’s the situation,Governor?” Iden said, ignoring the testosterone in the room and addressing their host.

“We’ve been noticing some constant transmissions coming from our department of technologies, and may have detected a pattern in successful Rebel strikes. We called in for a group to work from the inside, doing simultaneous infiltration and destruction of the information from its source.”

“We’ve worked it out so that Agent Hask will be doing the infiltration. Agent Meeko and I will be his informants, and the investigators.”

“You are good with data encryptions, Agent?” 

“Yes.” Hask lied through his teeth as he glared longways at Iden. He could tell this was still some kind of punishment. For what, then? Was she still mad about the Dreamers? Or the pregnancy test thing? He was just looking out for her!

He was _never_ going to understand women.

“You will be assigned to the technology apartment within our chapter here. You’ll work alongside our partners in their offices. It’s nothing difficult, just your typical day job.”

“And then Agent Meeko and I come in.” Iden declared. “I’ll receive and he’ll encrypt the data that’s sent to us so the Rebels lead us straight to their base, which we can soon turn into a predetermined trap. Easy work.”

“You’ve gotten the whole thing planned out, haven’t you, commander?” Jame didn’t mean anything rude by it and had a slight smile on her face.

“It’s not too different from something we’ve done before.” Iden said, waving it off. Del cringed slightly and Hask stayed deadpan.

“I thought you were a combat-orientated squad, are you not?”

“We specialize in a lot of things, ma’am.” Iden said proudly. Not arrogantly. Those two emotions were different, and she was very proud of her team, even if she and Hask seemed to constantly bump heads.

“I am impressed.” Said the commander, her blonde eyebrows still raised a bit. 

They discussed the mission and general Imperial news while the food was served, and a lot of it. Meats and cheeses and exotic fruits and vegetables. Iden could tell Del was practically drooling and Hask was longing for a taste of home, but as soon as she put eyes on the food her stomach knotted up again.

 _I’m starting to think I don’t even need to test with this new attitude towards food._ Iden cringed as she picked food off of a platter. Normally she, too, couldn’t refuse a good meal, especially meats and grilled vegetables, but right now it just seemed so unappalling that she put nothing but an apple-looking fruit on her plate.

“Commander, you’re not hungry?” Hask asked, noting her displeasure. 

“I’ve lost my appetite. Talking about missions does that to me, for some reason.”

“I think work does that to anyone.” The governor said sympathetically, while also shooting Iden a look like, “men will never understand.”

At least Iden had enough dignity left to realize she was about to make a fool of herself by biting into a fruit which was supposed to be eaten through its seeds. After about six of the tiny, jewel like orbs Iden had to stop. 

“Commander Versio, it’s been over two years since your team pulled off that coup on the rebel partisans, has it not?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” Iden pushed away her plate. She could feel her face flushing. 

“I must admit that I myself found it hard to believe your trickery was legitimate. When they reinstated you, I didn’t think you were genuine. But then you proved yourself countless times after that.” 

“Thank you, ma’am.” Iden smiled politely. 

“So, tell me, then. Does your experiences with the first Death Star impact your opinion of the second one at all?”

A ripple of unease swept through Inferno Squad. Yes, it did make them feel certain ways about the project. Yes, Iden didn’t like it. 

But she could never admit it.

“No, ma’am.” She said after a moment. “Admiral Versio created Inferno so that there wouldn’t _be_ another disaster like Yavin.”

“That must be difficult. What can one squad do against the entire Rebellion?”

“You would be surprised.” Hask interrupted. “It’s like the Admiral said. We’re small. We get them from the inside, where they least expect it.”

“Ah.” Jame nodded. “Very interesting, Lieutenant Hask. And I find it of note you are so willing to jump to her aid.” Del made a bit of a noise that nobody heard except Iden, but he did fidget noticeably in his seat.

“And the famously taciturn Agent Meeko. Thoughts?” Jame raised an eyebrow around her glass of wine. Iden still hadn’t touched hers and wouldn’t. Those were the things Del was focusing on.

“Erm…” Del began,snapping back to reality. “Iden says go and we follow. It doesn’t matter where our orders come from or what they are.”

“Simply put. I can tell you were once a member of the Corps.”

Iden’s previous assessment of the Governor was now rescinded. Jame was showing her true colors. She was arrogant, and teasing to her lesser subjects. Too comfortable in her domain.

That would hopefully come back to haunt her. She acted as if Del being a soldier was a _bad_ thing, when Iden doubted Jame herself would be brave enough to serve as he did. 

“Well, Lieutenant Hask. Your time here on Kuat begins tomorrow. Though I suppose you should be quite comfortable. Not all of us are blessed enough to have a lucky tragedy befall us.”

Hask clenched his fists, and Iden reached out to steady him. This woman was absolutely _full_ of herself. Iden couldn’t wait to be rid of her.

“And do remember, Commander Versio. It’s rude to be so ungrateful to your host.”

The Governor took her leave. 

A very frazzled Iden took a few moments to recover. Del leaned over and asked if she was alright.

“Don’t worry, Del and I ate enough to cover you. That woman was just… interesting. Not what the Empire needs in its ranks.”

That was something, coming from Hask, but he meant well by it. Iden appreciated it.

“You can go to your room and prepare, Hask. Del and I need to discuss our part of the mission.” 

_Or really something else_. Iden could sense Del’s smile. 

“Alright, Commander. I’ll find you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Hask.”

They rose to watch him go, and then Del spoke. “I’m worried about him. He actually seems pretty shaken up.”

“Hask has a tough skin. He’ll be okay.” Iden said. “Now, you and I have an _errand_ to run.” 

Del squeezed her hand in excitement.

He was a bit stiff legged as they walked. Iden squeezed his hand as they arrived at the corner shop next to the apartments they were staying at. 

“I’m so nervous.” Iden admitted, wringing the bag in her hands. Thank goodness that the cashier was only a droid. It made it less awkward. “What if I’m wrong? I- I can’t take any more of this disappointment, Del. Seriously, I-“

“Iden, please. Just go take the test.” Del was just as anxious listening to her. And seeing her during dinner? Well, he was more concerned about the test turning out negative and giving no real reason for her behavior. 

“Okay. I am going to go- “Iden glanced at the instructions. “Pee on the stick. Wait here.”

And she disappeared into the ‘fresher, and Del began to wonder.

Were Iden’s instincts right? Was he going to need to get a bigger apartment to make room for another baby? Surely them and Camden could just share a room but, what if the second baby was a girl?

_Focus, Del._

Five long minutes later and he heard Iden’s footsteps. They slowed, just before she opened the ‘fresher door, and he heard her take a breath. 

His heart wrenched for her as he waited on the bed, bouncing his knee. He was anxious, but he couldn’t imagine what she was feeling. Anxious, excited, hopeful-

She sat down beside him. For a couple moments, she didn’t say anything. 

“I took two, just to make sure.” 

Del took the proffered tests, covering the results with his hands as she did. “I don’t know how to read these.”

“The line on the right is a control line. Positive plus sign means just that.” 

“You ready?” 

She nodded, gripping his arm before he opened his hand. 

One of the tests had a very clear vertical line crossed by a faint perpendicular line. The other was a much more obvious plus sign. 

“Oh.” He breathed, turning to read her expression. “Iden, I- you were right. We’re going to have a baby!”

He felt something in his shoulder. Iden had buried her face, and he could feel a wet spot growing with her tears. 

“Hey, now.” He whispered, gently cupping her chin and pulling her away. “Happy tears?”

“Yeah.” She responded, managing a smile. “I just- I never thought-“ 

She couldn’t say anything else, just threw her arms around him as he laughed with glee, still clutching the tests and checking to make sure they were real.

“Iden.” He whispered, kissing her forehead. “Iden, sweetheart, look at me.” 

“I’m going to be a mom, Del.” She cried, laughing through tears as she drew back ever so slightly.

“You already were, Iden. And I want you to be the mother of both my children, not just this baby.” 

“Del, are you asking me to-“

“Yes.” He interrupted. “Yes, Iden. Adopt Camden.”

She laughed, and squeezed his neck again, burying her face into his chest. “Yes, Del.” 

He slid a hand to her belly, and Iden met him there, linking their fingers.

“I love you so much.” He breathed. 

“Yeah?” She ran a hand down his chest. “I can’t wait to tell Camden he’s going to be a big brother.”

“You know he’s not going to understand.”

“Fine. We’ll wait awhile to say anything.” Iden bit her lip and looked down, gently moving their hands lower and pressing where she had a bit of a cramp that she wanted massaged. Del leaned over and nuzzled her neck. 

“Now that we know, I’d like to see you take care of yourself better.” He murmured. “For the baby.”

“Yeah, I know. Half of tonight was just me being nervous. I’m actually kind of hungry now.”

“Yeah? Should I get you something?”

She nodded. “Something with nutritional value, please, no matter how much I’m craving sweets.”

“I could bring both?

She thought for a moment. “Sure.”


	8. Chapter 8

The first day of the mission went without incident. Iden and Del received no word from Hask, and ended up waiting at the meeting point long enough for their meal to be over. Iden was right, the meeting with Governor Jame had been a fluke, and now Del watched her eat more than usual. 

“You think Hask is doing okay?” He wondered, on the second night of Hask being a no-show. 

“It could be that there isn’t much to find after all.”Iden pointed out, rubbing her belly, satisfied. She was blessed to not be experiencing morning sickness.

“Or maybe  _ he  _ was the one that was found out.” Del said worriedly.

“Yeah? You think so?” Iden stopped chewing. “You could send the droid in after him, just to get some visual.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Let’s walk that way once it hits 1920.”

That was the end of Hask’s window. Del fiddled with the droid as they waited, making sure it knew to stay out of sight and get Hask. But that was exactly what it was trained for. 

He sent it off on its way. A few moments later, his comm beeped, and he and Iden saw Hask safe and sound, working away at a desk.

“He looks so sad.” Del murmured. “Oh well.”

“At least he’s safe.” Iden said. “I was going to send you in after him.”

“Oh, really?” 

“Yes.” 

They walked hand in hand for a while, back to the apartment. 

“Should I sneak back to the  _ Corvus  _ for a checkup?” Iden murmured, lying propped up as Del hugged her belly, placing kisses on it every once in a while.

“If you want. Do you think you could wait until this mission is over, though? So I can go with you. I wanna see our baby with you, Iden.”

“Okay, I guess I can wait.” Iden placed her hand on her belly and sighed dramatically. “I wonder if this one will be a boy or a girl.”

“I hope it’s a girl, as beautiful as you are.”

“I think it  _ is  _ a girl, if the foods I’ve been craving are any indication.”

“Really?” Del perked up, and laid his chin across his folded hands on her belly. “Do you have any name ideas?”

“Not this early. Unless you would like to name her after someone.”

“Seyn?”

“Seyn. Or my mother. I don’t know- I can’t decide yet.”

“Either of them are beautiful names.” Del murmured. “And if it’s a boy?”

“I told you, I don’t know yet!” Iden giggled a bit. They both froze as the door to the room beside theirs opened and closed. 

“Hask is back.” Iden said. “Why is he back?”

“I don’t know.” Del sat up and began pulling on his boots. “I’ll go see.”

He left the room and knocked on Hask’s door. There was a slight pause, then the door opened and a very tired looking Hask answered. “Yeah?”

“Iden heard you come back. She was wondering why since we haven’t caught you the past couple nights.”

“I had deadlines, Del.” Hask said, rubbing his eyes with one hand. “They put me to work on algorithms and data analysis and- I really wish Seyn were still here. She’d have been the right person for this job. She would have finished it much too quickly.”

“So you aren’t still mad about Iden giving it to you?”

“Oh, I’m furious. I’ve just given up trying to understand her.” Hask opened the door a bit wider and invited Del in. “What were you talking about, anyway? I heard you two mumbling.”

“Oh, nothing.” Del tried to appear casual about it, but he could feel sweat at the back of his neck.

“You aren’t a very good liar, Meeko.”

Del wanted so desperately to share the news with someone, anyone, even Hask. But just as much as it was his news, it was also Iden’s. “She was just talking about how she misses Seyn, is all.”

“Oh.” Hask yawned loudly, and Del had to stifle one of his own. “Listen, man, I just came to check up on you. You should get some sleep- unless you have some information to talk about?”

“Nothing big, yet. I have noticed a lot of activity in the Anoat sector, though, so tell Iden she may want to look into that.”

“Anoat? There’s not a lot out there.” Del said.

“Look, Del. I’m just telling you what I saw!” Hask was pulling off his clothes and obviously getting ready to crawl into bed. “So if you’ll excuse me, I would like to get some rest before they call me in tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure. Goodnight, Hask.”

“Goodnight, Del.” 

“The Anoat sector? There’s nothing out there.” Iden said that morning when she awoke. Del had written the name down so he would remember it, but Iden’s reaction was virtually the same as his.

“That’s what I said, but I didn’t stick around. He was tired- poor man worked for two days straight without much more than caf. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sleeps until noon.”

“I wish I could sleep until noon.” Iden murmured. “But I guess we should make ourselves useful. Let’s do some investigating, and then we’ll take what we’ve got to Governor Jame at the end of next week.”

“I do not like that woman.” Del said matter-of-factly.

“Well, she seemed to like you.”Iden teased. “Not that I would know what that feels like.”

Del hummed a bit and finished fine-tuning the seeker droid’s systems. He was always doing that,adding some upgrade or new feature, the droid even had its own array of games and holofilms that Iden had been meaning to look through.

But he also had something that was more important than any of those.

Camden’s holos.

“Droid, pull up the pictures of Camden.” 

It beeped and floated over to her and settled onto the bed. Its servos whirred,and then the feed began. Del, too, crawled onto the bed and watched them go by. When the particular one of Del holding Camden as a newborn with his new onesie came up, Del kissed Iden’s cheek and murmured in her ear, “I’m going to get you back for that. I’m going to find a onesie that says “prettier than my mama”.”

“Oh, are you now?” Iden giggled, and kissed him as his hands entwined her middle. He murmured something, but then all of the sudden there was a sound of a door opening and-

“What are you two doing?!” Hask demanded, bags still prominent under his eyes. His brows were narrowed, especially at Del. 

“Looking at holos.” Iden said, “duh.” 

“You were  _ kissing. _ ”

“Yes? So?” 

Hask opened and shut his mouth a few times as he thought of how to respond. He couldn’t always account for Iden’s bluntness. 

“Is that a  _ baby? _ ” He continued. “Why does it look like you?”

“Because it’s mine. Any more questions?” Del asked, annoyed. 

“I’m about to court-martial your ass so hard, Meeko-“

“Not if I have anything to say about it, Hask.” Iden interrupted. “Try anything, and you’ll be the one who doesn’t see the light of day any longer.” 

Both Del and Hask knew she was deadly serious. 

“Fine, then.” Hask decided, throwing up his hands. “Is this just even more of you going out of your way to make me mad? To get back about the whole Dreamers thing? Because it’s  _ working. _ ” He shook his head hard, like he was trying to rid it of something bad. “My- my  _ brother  _ and my  _ best friend. _ ” 

“Were we friends?” Iden asked, and even Del was a bit shocked at that. Iden may be getting… a little wound up. He gently took her shoulders to calm her down.

“Iden, you don’t mean-“

“Get out of my room, Hask!” Iden commanded, but her voice trembled in a way she was immediately ashamed of. Was this hormones?

Miraculously, Hask obeyed, though he was obviously extremely shaken.

Del continued rubbing Iden’s shoulders until she fell against him, feeling so emotionally exhausted she couldn’t explain it. 

“He wasn’t supposed to find out.” She said, quietly. “Why didn’t he knock on the damn door-“

“Iden…” Del soothed her. “Let’s take a trip. Let’s go scope out the Anoat sector, okay? Put this all behind us.”

“But what if… what if he  _ does  _ court martial you?”

“He won’t. And if he does, I’m sure you’ll fight for me.”

“Of course I will.” Iden slipped out of Del’s arms. “I’m going to get ready. You should, too.”

“I showered before you woke up.”

“Shame.” Iden said, just to see him flush a bit. Not that they’ve ever showered together before, but Del had a feeling they would definitely try that out someday if there was ever one big enough.

Just another side effect of being too tall.

He activated Dio and made a cup of caf for himself but hesitated before pouring one for Iden. Was caffeine safe for her while pregnant? 

“Hey, Iden?” He knocked on the ‘fresher door. “Can you have caf?”

A couple seconds of hesitation, “what do you mean?”

“Is caffeine safe for you?”

“I don’t know, Del. Look it up!”

He did, and found that one serving of caffeine per day was all she should have. He would wait, just in case she’d rather save what was suggested. She emerged a few moments later, toweling off her hair.

“What did it say?”

“You get one cup of caffeine a day.” Del said. “Use it wisely.”

“I feel like toast this morning anyway.” Iden said, pulling on her casual clothes for the walk back to the  _ Corvus.  _ Del was halfway into his Inferno uniform,wearing its black pants and a white undershirt with a vest.

“Does Hask know we’re following his lead? Or did you get that far before he fell asleep?” Iden wondered, trying to forget about that morning. 

“I’ll get a message to him.” Del was just as pissed as she was over what had happened. With a little luck, it would blow over. Hask was jealous, but he wasn’t stupid. If Iden didn’t love him, he’d let it go.

Hopefully.

  
  


“Just as I said, there’s nothing out here.” Iden said, frowning out at the space of the Anoat sector. “These are the coordinates, but there’s nothing here but those desolate ice moons.”

“Hoth.” Del offered. “Only one of them is habitable, the sixth one in its system.”

“Should we go check it out?”

“ _ I _ will.”

“Del.” Iden looked around and lowered her voice. “I’m pregnant, not helpless.”

“I know but… extreme temperatures can’t be good for the baby.”

“You just made that up.”

“I just made that up.” He agreed. “But I bet it’s true. Look it up.”

Iden hmmphed, but did so. After a few minutes, she gave him a look. “You were right. I don’t want to risk preterm birth. And plus, I think I’m still in that seven-week range, according to the projected due date I told the meddroid for its tests.”

“What kind of tests?”

“Nothing much. Blood testing for chromosomal things, and I can even find out the gender this early with ninety-nine percent accuracy- which I am going to do, but only so I can plan ahead.”

“Of course. I didn't know we could do it this early.”

“I’ve been reading a lot.” Iden said, walking closer to the viewport. “How about it? Should we go down there?”

“I’m thinking that’s a bit out of our range, here. If there was a ship to attack or a noticeable base to obliterate, we could do that. But a recon mission? We’d need to wait for Hask, at least.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Iden said, frowning slightly as she leaned on the railing. “I think I need to drink some more water and put on some more layers.”

“Those are kind of adverse, Iden. Are you feeling okay?”

“No. I’ll just lay down. This whole pregnancy thing is still pretty new to me. I’m sure I’m just not drinking enough.” 

She started heading back to the bunk rooms, and Del bit his lip in concern but didn’t follow, sending a message to Hask informing him that they’d need him for a recon mission. And if that wouldn’t work, then someone else would have to do it. Del had a feeling it would be the latter, because Hask’s undercover work seemed rather demanding. 

As he was logging what he’d learned, the proximity alert went off.

“Captain?” Del called, turning towards Caton.

“We’re detecting a new signal coming in. Not Imperial.”

“Pull back to cover.” Del said. “Cloak and scan.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

Iden had really gone off at the wrong time. Except now it was okay, since Del was handling things. The  _ Corvus  _ moved off and away from the incoming ship’s approach vector. 

“It’s a Corellian Cruiser.” Del said, watching it float by the  _ Corvus.  _ “Just like the rebels use.”

“Should we engage?” Caton asked, but Del was already shaking his head.

“No. We hang back, let them get where they want to go. If I were the Emperor, I would let them repopulate their new base until they feel safe, then strike, however long that may be. A year, perhaps.”

“A year is… a long time.” Caton said. 

“Yeah, I know.” Del responded, narrowing his eyes a bit.  _ Now imagine waiting for a baby for that long.  _ “It’s all strategy, but we’re definitely not doing anything until we confirm a base. Pull back for Kuat.” 

“Aye, sir.”

At least, Del  _ hoped  _ he was making the decision. He knew, strategically it was sound, going all the way back to when he was in elementary school and he would watch for patterns in life. If you wanted to get rid of a pest, you went for the nest. 

The Rebels hadn’t made their nest yet. 

Inferno needed to figure out exactly where it was beginning. Then the Empire would attack full force.

And end them for good.

  
  


They waited for approval of the recon mission. Then, finally, a day before they were due to report back to Governor Jame, Iden’s father called.

“Commander Versio.” He greeted. “Agent Meeko.”

“Admiral.” She responded, while Del inclined his head.

“Commander, you told me of the suspicious activity you and your agents uncovered in the Anoat system.”

“Yes, Sir. We almost ended up right in the middle of what seemed to be a rebel convoy on its way to the sixth planet in the system, and we requested permission for Agents Hask and Meeko to go and investigate.”

“No.” Her father said, rather abruptly. Iden was surprised. 

“No, sir?” She questioned.

“We have a pinpoint on the Rebel’s location. If we are going to go down there, it will have to be when we are at full force. That is the Emperor’s instruction for now. We build our forces, then we strike with all our fleet.”

“Yes, sir. Understood. What would you have Inferno do now?”

“Finish your stay on Kuat. Then return home.”

And that was all. It was one of the quickest calls they’d ever received from him.

Iden looked especially stressed after his holo disappeared. Her hand gripped her opposite wrist, a telltale sign that she was possibly mad at herself, and squeezing old wounds that could often bleed.

“What’s wrong?” Del asked immediately, walking the circumference of the holotable to stand beside her. 

“I should have told him.” Iden said.

“Told him what? That you’re pregnant? Forgive me, but I don’t think that would be how he wants to hear it.”

“I know but… I should have at least told him I was resigning.” She bit her lip, and pressed the top of her head into Del’s shoulder. Not necessarily an intimate gesture, but one of comfort.

“I wish my father was a normal dad, Del. I wish my mother were still alive.” Iden put her hands on her belly. “I wish I could tell her that at the end of this year, she’s going to have a granddaughter.”

Del was nodding along until she said that last part. “Hold on a moment- grand _ daughter?” _

Iden nodded her head, biting her lip and tracing her imperceptible bump. “That’s what the doctor said. She seemed pretty confident, and said the blood test, even early, is ninety-nine percent accurate.”

“A baby girl?” Del repeated, his face betraying a goofy grin.

“Yes, Del.” 

Iden could tell he so badly wanted to hug her but couldn’t in public. She tugged his arm gently and they went back to the bunk room, and as soon as the door closed he was gathering her into his arms.

“Camden’s gonna have a little sister.” He murmured into her hair. “He’s so lucky, I wanted one so bad.”

“Well now you get to raise a baby girl, instead. Doctor said I was really fortunate, most women who are having girls get really bad morning sickness. I haven’t had much at all.”

“That’s good, I’m so happy, Iden. I just… I also wish I could tell someone else, you know? I’m afraid I’ll accidentally let it slip sometime when I shouldn’t.”

“It’s alright, Del. I trust you.”

“You really shouldn’t.” He teased. 

“Maybe so.” Iden shrugged, and sat down on her bunk, the one closest to the door and across from Hask’s. Del sat beside her and wrapped his giant arms around her middle, setting his chin on her shoulder. 

“Do you think she can hear us?” He asked, curious. 

“Not yet.” Iden said, causing him to frown. “But hey, I’ll let you know as soon as we hit that milestone, and you can talk to her all you want.”

“Okay. I don’t mind waiting. This is… it’s so special, Iden. I always dreamed of being a… a  _ real  _ father once Camden came into my life.”

“What do you mean, “real?” Iden demanded, leaning away to look at his eyes. “You think Camden doesn’t make you a “real” father?”

“Well, I mean- he isn’t  _ my  _ son.”

“Del, we’ve been over this.” Iden sighed. “Yes he is, because you adopted him, and you’re raising him. And when I adopt him under the “second parent” clause, he’ll be mine, too. This baby will be his sister.” 

“Yeah, she will be.” Del smiled as she leaned back into his arms.


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks went by, and Inferno Squad continued gathering intel for a report. Hask found no Rebel sympathizers on the inside, so it had been a false alarm for that, but the recon mission to Hoth was able to obtain the location of the Rebel base, which was vital and more than anyone could have asked for. 

But even amidst all the good news and preparations for the end of the Rebels, a sense of dread engulfed Iden. She couldn’t explain it, but she was almost nervous as she delivered her report. It didn’t help that her back and stomach were hurting and heavy.

“Admiral Versio is now confident that the situation is under control here, so he has called us back to Coruscant. “We will stay in touch with the garrison here and monitor for any… suspected rebel activity.” Iden’s voice caught on the word when a cramp seized her abdomen. Her hand went to it and she winced a tiny bit. 

Governor Jame raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright, Commander Versio?”

“Sorry, Ma’am. Just old wounds.” Iden said, and continued, but her vision briefly swam and she stumbled. 

“Alright, then. Do continue.” 

“The Admiral does wish to inform you of the new order. All unnecessary personnel are to be relocated to- to-  _ kriff. _ ”

Cursing, Iden hugged her stomach completely with both hands and doubled over. Behind her, Hask and Del exchanged a look. For now, they were on the same terms and wanted to help their commander. Only Del touched her shoulder, though, and she turned to him and shook her head faintly.

Del disobeyed anyway. “Iden, can you tell me what’s wrong?  _ Please _ .”

Hask was on her other side, but not too close and certainly not touching her like Del was. Governor Jame had risen from her desk, and looked upon the scene with an uncharacteristically concerned look. 

“Just stand me up, Del, I’m fine.”

“Iden-“ That was Hask, now, concerned like what he’d shown after her experience with the Death Star.

“I’m  _ fine.” _ Iden insisted, pulling away from their grips.

From the outside, it likely just seemed as if she was suffering from unfortunate feminine ailments, but only Del knew why her symptoms seemed concerning. He’d panicked and read up on some things and knew that sometimes pregnant women still got cramps, but he didn’t know they’d be this bad. 

“To the Executor.” Iden finished. “Lord Vader’s fleet will assume the task of becoming the vanguard.” She felt…something. Instinct told her that it was bad.

“I’m sorry, I need to go.” Iden pointed vaguely in the direction of the door. “Lieutenant Hask can-“ She didn’t finish before the pain hit again.

“Yes. Please go.” The Governor gave her permission and Iden began to stumble off in that direction.

“Del.” Hask said, then jerked his head after Iden. Del understood immediately and thanked his friend for considering him even as they were at odds. He nearly jogged after Iden, and only just saw the ‘fresher door close. Barely maintaining professionalism, Del stationed himself outside. He was so worried about Iden and what this could mean and-

“ _ Del!”  _

He was there in an instant, damning protocol. The ‘fresher door opened and-

“You actually came.” Iden said in a weak voice. Her voice was shaky, and eyes fluttered in unshed pain.

“Always.” He said, sliding down to sit beside her. “Now, do we need to go to the medcenter, or-“

“No.” Iden said, her voice now wavering. “It’s too late, Del. I- I already lost her. I-“

“What do you mean?” Del asked, his throat bobbing. 

Wordlessly, Iden looked between her legs. Del hadn’t noticed it before because her uniform was dark and he was far away, but now, up close, the unmistakable stain of blood on the inside of her bare thighs, all the way down to her knees.

“I  _ lost  _ her.” Iden repeated, and she leaned into Del and sobbed. 

He was frozen in shock.

There had been no warning. No sign that this was happening and- oh  _ no.  _

“I’m sorry.” Iden gasped, her shoulders shaking. “I’m so- I’m  _ sorry _ -“

He didn’t respond, still frozen. Then, slowly, tears began to fall as his mind finally comprehended it. “No,  _ no,  _ Iden. Don’t apologize. Not for this…”

“But Del, I-“

“I know.” He looked into her face. “I know, Iden. Please, just- just come with me to the medcenter and see that everything…. that everything  _ else  _ is alright.” 

She didn’t respond. 

“Iden?”

“I deserve the pain.” She answered. “I’m not going to fix it, Del.” Her head dropped, eyes wistfully looking to her stomach. “ _ I wasn’t strong enough.” _

“Iden, that’s not true. Sometimes things just-“ Del took a moment to collect himself, sniffling. Who was he kidding, trying to be calm in this situation. Tears fell again, and then the sobs. He buried his head into Iden’s shoulder and mourned with her, both of them crying as Iden squeezed Del’s hand with every wave of pain. 

In the privacy of their own minds, they were each wondering what, exactly, had happened to their little girl when she’d died. Was she in heaven, alone, without either of them to take care of her? 

Del was wondering what she’d have looked like. Genetics would favor the Versio side, but would she be tall like him? Sassy like her mother?

They would never know. 

“Take care of her, mama.” Iden whispered to the ceiling. 

Del lifted his head just a bit and smiled sadly, wiping a tear off of Iden’s cheek. “You too, Cade. I’m taking care of Camden, it’s only fair you take care of…” his voice faded, and then Iden locked eyes with him. They didn’t name her, not really. They’d played with the idea of Seyn, but- that was so improper now. 

“Take care of our little Angel.” He said instead, pulling Iden close to him. Their tears were shed, but their mourning would be far from over. 

“How can I… How can I face Camden, now.” Iden whispered. “I’m not- I’m not  _ worthy  _ of…”

“Don’t think about that right now, Iden. Just let me hold you, sweetheart.” 

She brought her knees close to her chest and let him do just that. When she protested no longer, Del gently slid his arms under her and carried her away, ignoring message after message from Hask.

* * *

“What happened?” Hask asked, jogging up to Iden’s room in the medcenter. Del hated it, but he was outside, as close as he could be in a world where he was only her teammate, not her lover. Not the father of her child who they had loved and lost.

“Del?” Hask prompted when he didn’t respond immediately. It was then that he noticed Del’s red, puffy eyes, and he assumed the worst. “Del, talk to me.” He shook the older man’s knee, worried that Iden was already gone. Why else would Del be crying?

“She miscarried.” Del said, trying to distance himself from the situation using as few words as possible. 

“What?” Hask drew back a bit, eyebrows narrowing. “I didn’t even- I didn’t even know she was...  _ pregnant _ .” 

Hask’s mind drifted back to last year, when he’d ordered tests on Iden since he thought she was pregnant. The word seemed so awkward for Hask to say, especially pertaining to his commanding officer and his best friend. His best friend…. who he had seen kissing… Del…

“It was yours.” He said, and it wasn’t a question. Hask faintly remembered back to when he’d ordered tests on her.

Del nodded, numbly. He’d turned away from Hask, and leaned back and was chewing on his fingernail. 

In the chair beside his, Hask blew out his cheeks and also leaned back. He  _ wanted  _ to be angry. To be  _ jealous,  _ but he wasn’t. 

“Why didn’t she resign?” Hask asked.

“We just found out a couple weeks ago, and she wanted to talk to her father face to face.”

“Oh. Well… I’m sorry, Del. I really am. For everything.” At his apology, Del at least looked at him. “If there’s anything I can do…”

“I don’t know what these next few weeks are going to look like, especially for her. Just... give her some space. Please.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

There was an awkward silence between the two men. Hask didn’t know what to do or how to process all he had heard, but he still wanted to be, well, polite, at the very least. Respectful. 

“What were you going to do?”

“Retire.” Del said. “Stay at home with the baby and…” he bit his lip. Hask didn’t know about Camden. 

“The baby in the holo.” Hask said anyway. “He’s yours, too?”

“Not Iden’s. But he’s mine, yes. I… I really miss him right now.” 

“How old is he?” 

“Seventeen months.” Hask didn’t actually care, but he knew how to distract Del from his woes. 

“What happens now?” 

“I..I’m not sure.” Del admitted, shrugging. “Most marriages don’t survive the death of a child. I can’t imagine what it’s going to do to us.”

“I didn’t mean that, Del. I meant what are you going to do to take care of him?  _ How  _ do you take care of him?

“My parents watch him while I’m gone.” 

“Oh. I didn’t know they were still alive.” 

“They had me young, I guess. Younger than Iden would’ve been.” The thought made him choke up again. “So what’re you going to do now, report me for sleeping with her? Court-martial me?”

“No. Of course not. I just- I didn’t mean what I said then. I was just… surprised. I can be a bit, well, protective of Iden, I guess.”

“If you’re jealous, you can just tell me.” Del said. 

“Not jealous, Del, protective.”

“Where’s the difference?”

“I don’t _love_ her. Not like you do. I mean, I’ve known her since she was a child. That’d be a bit awkward to love her, don’t you think?”

“I guess.” Del said absently. Hask leaned over and squeezed his shoulder. 

“Hey, man. It’s gonna be alright. It’ll be hard, but you’re gonna get through it. You have to, or else it would make working together difficult.”

“Yeah.” Del was trying to detach himself from the conversation and hoped that Hask could tell. They sat there in silence, alone with their thoughts, until a meddroid came out to greet them.

“The procedure is finished.” It announced. “She will be released within the hour.”

“Is she awake?” Del asked.

“Yes. You two are allowed to see her, but no one else.”

Iden turned her head when she heard their footsteps. She looked relieved to see Del, but when she saw Hask it turned apprehensive. 

“It’s alright, Iden. I know.” Hask assured her. “I’m… I’m really sorry. Are you going to be okay?”

His voice was so  _ gentle, _ his words so genuine, Iden had to respond. “I… yeah. Thank you, Hask. I’m putting in a month’s sabbatical, so you’ll be in charge for awhile. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay, Iden. Take all the time you need. I’ll leave you two alone.” Hask patted Del’s shoulder and excused himself without another word. 

Both Del and Iden watched him leave. “That was…”

“Odd.” Del finished. Del took advantage of the single chair in the room and pulled it to Iden’s bedside. “But he’s genuine. I know it.” He reached out and tucked some of Iden’s hair around her ear. “How are you doing?”

“I miss her.” Iden said. “It feels so… odd, not to have a baby inside of me anymore but not having one to hold, either. I never thought it would happen this way.” She turned to him, and took his hand. “How are  _ you  _ doing?”

“I spent the last several minutes outside wondering if I had a better name for her than ‘Angel.’ I don’t.”

“I like Angel.” Iden whispered.

Del smiled weakly. “Okay.” 

“Del?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you still want me to adopt Camden?” 

“Of course, Iden.” Del scooted his chair closer to her. “Nothing’s changed.”

“I don’t deserve to be called ‘mama’.” Iden said, tears brimming in her eyes. “I can’t do it, Del.”

He reeled a bit, shocked. “But Iden, Camden-“

“He’ll only ever be  _ your  _ son, Del. I don’t deserve a child. Please don’t ask me again.” Iden turned away from him and kicked her legs over the side of the bed. “I don’t know why you brought me here.”

“To make sure they got all of the…” Del didn’t know what to call it, exactly. “You know. Now you shouldn’t hurt as much.” 

“I told you, Del. I deserved that pain.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did!” Iden yelled, and her eyes suddenly flashed. “Please, get out.”

Del’s face fell, alarmed. “Iden-“

“ _ Get out!”  _

The tone of her voice scared him and he fled the room. 

* * *

When they landed on Coruscant, Del and Hask had to appear and debrief without Iden. Admiral Versio asked no questions, as Iden had put down “personal/family emergency.” He could only guess as to what it was. He knew his daughter struggled with depression, he just didn’t know how badly. 

“I’m headed to the bar.” Hask said, gripping Del’s shoulder when they exited. “You seem like you could use a drink, too.” 

“No, thanks.” Del declined, and began walking away. He had a one track mind right now, and that was to get to his parents’ apartment and pick up his son. He wanted to hold him in his arms and feel small, toddler’s hands wrap around his neck, and a tiny face press into his neck and shoulder.

He dropped off his bag at his own apartment, first, and was surprised to see Iden already there.

“I- I thought you were back at the apartments.” Del said.

“I’m on leave. I don’t want anything to do with the Empire now. This is  _ me  _ time, Del.”

He frowned, and then noticed the bottle on the table. “Iden, have you been drinking?”

“No.” She said. “I was  _ thinking  _ about it, though.” 

He crossed the room and swiped up the bottle before she could protest. “No. Not now.” He went to the kitchen and placed the bottle up high, in a place only he could see and reach. “Why did you come here if you didn’t want to see Camden?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to  _ see  _ him, I’m just afraid that he’ll call me mama, again.”

“Iden, he’s a baby. He can’t help it. You need to decide what you want. Last month, you didn't care, now you do. It’s going to confuse him.”

“Ugh.” Iden turned away on the couch, feigning sleep. “Take your preaching somewhere else. Let me mourn in peace.”

“Yeah?” Del asked, dangerous emotion building inside him. His fists clenched. “I’m allowed to mourn as well! Don’t you forget, that was  _ my  _ baby, too!” 

He didn’t mean to have yelled. But he was angry, and pent up, and- 

He collapsed into a heap on the carpet, sobbing all over again. 

Iden stared in shock. She didn’t expect Del to react like this. Not to be sad, anyway. Disappointed, maybe, but at  _ her _ .

A soft hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up. “Del, I’m sorry. I… I didn’t think about it that way. I didn’t think you cared.” 

“Of course I cared.” Del sniffed. “I’ll always care, and I’ll always be sad.”

“I wish that…” Iden sniffed. “I don’t know how to get over this. Is there like… a book? A guide?” 

“You could talk to someone. I’m sure there’s groups, too.”

Iden looked at him like he had grown a third eye. 

“Don’t worry, Iden. I’ll help you.” Del corrected. 

“That might work.” She cupped his cheek with her hand. “Should we go get Camden?”

He took her hand. “Yeah.”

* * *

Iden spent most of the night with Camden in her arms, holding him and singing softly to him until Del finally convinced her to come sleep. 

Camden laid between their heads, and they watched him sleep undisturbed, his tiny chest moving up and down and his arms and legs twitching. 

“I wonder what he’s dreaming about.”

“I don’t think babies dream, Iden.”

“That’s ridiculous. Of course they do.” Iden reached out and gently smoothed back his Camden’s hair. “He’s getting so cute and so big. I can’t believe we missed his birthday.” 

Then her face changed, and her hand left Camden’s body. “What am I doing? I don’t deserve this-“

“Iden, no.” Del grabbed her arm as she tried to sit up. “Please. Sit down.”

Slowly, she obeyed. Camden shifted, and then sat up, looking around for his parents. 

“Hey buddy, go back to sleep.” Said Del, patting his back. 

The baby, well, toddler, now- giggled and rolled into Del’s chest so that he oofed jokingly. 

“Dada home.” He mumbled, feeling Del’s stubble. 

“Yep. Dada’s home. He’s home and he wants you to go back to sleep, okay?”

Del, with all his patience, went along with the baby’s antics while he did anything but sleep- until finally Del picked him up and began rocking him back to sleep. Father and son had matching bedhead.

When he was asleep again, Del gave a quiet sigh of relief and sat back while Iden curled up to them.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She mumbled. 

“Hmm?”

“I don’t want to try again. Not for a long time, at least a year.”

“That’s perfectly fine, Iden.” Del murmured into her hair.

“Our main focus should be the Empire, right now. I was foolish to think I could get out of it, and it may have cost our little girl her life because I was so… trying to balance too many things.”

“Now, that’s not true. You did everything right, sweetheart. You didn’t do anything dangerous and-“

“I know I sound like a broken recorder but we’re almost done with the war. I can  _ feel  _ it. Then we settle down and raise our family, however big it may end up.”

“Sounds perfect.” Del said, and kissed her cheek.


	10. Chapter 10

The Battle of Hoth came and went just a few months afterward. Then came Sullust, a back and forth constant battle with the Rebel’s resilient little fleet. Iden let herself become bogged down in her work to distract herself, and Del let her recover how she needed and spent time with Camden instead.

“We have a mission.” She announced to Hask and Del. She was using “that voice” the Commander Versio voice, and her face looked so determined Del was actually a bit scared. 

Then he remembered what day it was.

No wonder Iden was really feeling things hard. 

“We’ve received word that a Rebel ship, the _Invincible Faith_ has acquired secret Imperial data. Inferno has been assigned to recover that information.”

“Great. A stealth mission. We’ll be in and out-“

“There’s no “we”, Agent Hask. I am going to feign capture. You and Agent Meeko will stay on the _Corvus_ and recover both the data and me.

A bit put off by her dismissal, Hask crossed his arms. “You’re going to get captured? How?”

“A staged capture at their new garrison on Tibrin.”

“Fair enough.” 

“Alright, let’s prepare. Agent Meeko, set the jump calculations and cloak the ship.”

“What’s up with her?” Hask asked after Iden had left.

“Today would have been her due date.” Del whispered back, pushing up from his console. “She’s probably just wrestling with a lot of feelings. I feel sorry for all the Rebels she’s about to destroy.”

“Me, too.” Hask grinned in a way that worried Del, but he didn’t say anything. But he turned to his friend anyway. “How’re you holding up?”

“Fine. I wouldn’t have been the one pushing a baby out of me, anyway.” Del tried for humor, but it didn’t really work. He _was_ upset. In his own way. 

“Don’t worry. You’ll see that growing boy of yours soon enough.” Hask said. “Soon as we rain hell on these Rebels.”

“I’ve got to focus on Iden’s tracker right now for the jump calculations. When is she leaving?”

There was the blip of a TIE fighter coming online as it prepared to leave the hangar. Hask motioned to the monitor. “Now, apparently.”

Del blew out his cheeks. “Better get ready, then.” 

* * *

All Iden Versio knew was pain.

So many different kinds of it, so many different emotions all at once. Today was…

Today was going to be the day that somebody paid. 

And she waited, trying not to think of the dreams she’d had of her and Del and their baby girl, of seeing a newborn resting on her chest while Del held back tears beside her.

_You took that from me_

The Rebels hadn’t, of course. But Iden tore through the _Invincible Faith_ as if they had, tearing through crowds of soldiers with blaster and foot and hand, commanding the droid to shock them.

She punched, kicked, broke, shot and overall _executed_ some fifty-odd rebels by the end of the day. But it didn’t matter. 

It didn’t bring her daughter back. Or Angel, as she was commonly referred to by her and Del. 

Iden thought that maybe, _maybe_ if she was ruthless enough something would change. But who was she kidding? Del and she hadn’t slept together ever since she’d found out she was pregnant. Hardly even kissed. They still slept in the same bed, but not always in each other's arms. 

Together, but apart.

All this and more went through Iden’s mind, even as she called Hask and shot through space and tumbled past the oxygen shield. 

She was thankful for the helmet, for once, but took it off as she approached the bridge. 

“ _Commander on deck…”_

* * *

Del was so relieved to see her alive and safe. He snuck into the bunk room and hugged her later. 

“Hi, Del.” She mumbled. 

“Glad you’re okay.” He said, kissing her forehead. “Tell me what you’re thinking about.” 

“I’m thinking about where we should be, Del, instead of out here. We should be in a medcenter, you should be holding me while we meet our baby girl. She should be in my arms, but she _isn’t._ ”

Del didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d dreamed it. He saw himself, obviously after months of living free of the military and holding a baby girl close. He almost seemed… older, and Iden wasn’t even in the dream.

“What?” Iden looked at him quizzically. “No wise words for me?”

“Nothing except I love you.” 

She didn’t say it back, but ducked her head. That worried him a little bit, but he didn’t say anything.

He just held her. 

“What’s next, Del?”

“We go home.” He said. “Sullust is safe, for now. Inferno will be called again when it’s needed. Right now, we need each other. And I’m not missing another one of Camden’s birthdays.”

She hummed. “I can’t believe he’s going to be three.” 

“I know. And he’s talking in full sentences. Soon he might even realize that when I “read” books to him I’m actually making up my own plot based on the pictures.”

Iden laughed. “You do that, too?” 

“The print is so small I can hardly see it.” Del said. “I'm about to be forty years old, Iden. My eyes are starting to go.”

Wait a moment. 

_Forty?_

She must’ve said it aloud, because Del looked at her. “Yeah.”

Of course, Iden had known that. But hearing it still shocked her, and made her feel so many expressions she couldn’t explain.

“I forget how far apart we are.” She said, huffing a bit. 

“Some people might think it’s weird, yeah.” Del said awkwardly. 

“I mean, I don’t think it’s weird. You don’t actually look much older than me at all. You could pass for thirty.”

“Maybe on the outside.” Del sat down and closed his eyes. “Nobody in my family tends to live that long.”

“Don’t say that.” Iden said, a bit quickly. 

“Good to know you care.”

“Of course I care, Del!” Iden exclaimed. “You’re my partner and I care about you. I know it’s been a rough year, but you know what’s coming at Endor. When we win, you and I can retire.” 

“That _does_ sound really nice. We can settle down with our little family.”

“Do we _really_ qualify as a family?”

“Of _course_ we do. Me, you, Camden. Two parents and a child. Or… it should be two children, but…” She got a regretful look in her eyes. 

“Iden? I’ve been meaning to ask this for awhile but… once the war is over would you like to get married?”

Iden whipped her head around to look at him. “ _Married?”_

“Yeah, like… what people who love each other do.”

“This is quite possibly the most pathetic proposal I have ever heard, Del.” 

“I wasn’t proposing, I was just making sure you’re interested, first. I’ll wait until after the war to propose.”

“Why wait until after the war? I say yes _now_.”

Del’s eyes widened. “You… you do?”

“I mean… we’re practically married anyway. But who needs to go through all that if we already have a child keeping us together?”

“I mean… tradition, maybe, and I’d like to be able to give you a ring or some symbol of us being together, but if you don’t see the point of it, then-“

Iden interrupted him with a kiss. It felt so incredibly good, as they hadn’t had any kind of intimate contact in nearly a year aside from Del giving her one sided kisses on the cheek. But Iden remembered exactly how to do it. 

Del slid his hand to her back, and attempted to deepen the kiss before Iden pulled back. “Let’s win the war, Del.”

He couldn’t agree more.

* * *

When the unusual call came for Inferno Squad to join up with the Imperial fleet at Endor, Iden and Del had been out with Camden and had to swing by Del’s parents’ place on short notice to drop him off. 

Now, at almost four years old, Camden could tell what was going on. Especially when he saw his dad and mom get on their black uniforms. 

He also learned that the tighter he held to Del’s neck as he gave him one last hug, the longer it was until his father left. And he knew if he _really_ wanted to draw out saying goodbye he could do the same to Iden.

“You said you didn’t have to go.” He murmured into Del’s neck. His little legs were wrapped as tightly as possible around Del’s waist, but they couldn’t reach all the way around since the boy didn’t even stand as tall as Del’s hips.

“I know, buddy, but my plans changed.” Del said, cupping the back of Camden’s head.

“I miss you already.” Camden murmured, as Del knelt down and let him slide out of his arms. The boy shrunk back to Del’s father and took his hand instead, while Del’s mother embraced her only surviving son. 

“Hurry back, Del.”

“I will, mother.” 

He found it odd that his mother was so emotional like this, normally she would watch her son come and go without a second thought.

What changed?

Del gave a final, weak smile and then joined outside the apartment where she waited, saying her own goodbyes to Camden before Del took him inside. Like him, her uniform was on except for her protective gear and weapons. 

“Well, you heard my mother.” Del gave her a shrug. “We need to hurry back.”

“I’ll add it to the plan. But I don’t think that will be totally possible. My father seems…. almost nervous about Endor.”

“Really? Whatever for?”

“He believes the Rebels got ahold of some plans, again.”

“I thought it was our job to-“

“I wouldn’t mention that, Del. At least, not around him. If it was out explicit task and we failed, it’s our fault. If he never gave us the assignment…”

“Then it’s his fault.” Del noted as he pressed the button to activate the turbolift.

“I wouldn’t want to be around when he realizes that.”

“Will we be on the ground? In the sky?”

“Both.” Iden said, and Del’s face fell a bit. He always seemed to be staying behind on the _Corvus,_ and he knew it wasn’t because of what had happened on Ja-Bess. That was years ago, and Iden never reported his role in all of it. 

“Don’t worry, the three of us are on the ground.”

“You mean…. _On_ Endor? Isn’t there a shield or something?”

“Shield generator. It’s being taken care of. They’ll let us through with a clearance code.” 

They exited the turbolift and hailed a speeder towards the _Corvus_ ’ landing platform. The crew bustled about in preparation, and once in the ready room Del and Iden slid into their chest plates and grabbed their weapons. Del reconfigured his blaster into the sniper position and slid a pistol onto his hip, just in case. 

“There you are.” Hask said, greeting them as they entered the bridge. “I was about to call.”

“We were busy.” Iden said, assuming her spot to his left. Del, too, stood around the holo table. 

“Busy?” Hask said, with a bit of a smirk, and Del flushed a bit.

“Not like that. Shut up, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, commander. Shutting up.” Hask still chuckled a bit as Captain Caton approached. 

“You called for me, ma’am?”

“Yes. Agents Meeko, Hask and I will be on the ground while you keep the _Corvus_ in orbit around Endor, providing support to the Death Star II. We have reports that the entire Rebel fleet has come, so prioritize their flagships and any bombers.”

Caton nodded. “Will you call for pickup?”

“We’ll find our own way off of Endor once our job is done. Don’t you worry.”

“Me? Never. We’re with you, commander.”

“Alright, good.” Iden turned to her squad. “Del, we’re almost out of hyperspace. Go find us a shuttle. Hask, make sure you’ve got your explosives. You’re the demolitions expert, today.”

He smiled like a kid during Carnival Week. “You got it.”

Iden watched him leave, and thought back to what she thought months ago, on the day she infiltrated the _Invincible Faith._

_Today, the Rebellion dies._

_Camden and Angel, this is for you._

* * *

Iden couldn’t help but wonder if she’d jinxed it, as she stared up in disbelief at the sky with her team a few months later.

The Death Star…. gone? Again?

“ _Impossible_.” Hask murmured. 

Del just looked stunned and hurt. Iden knew that he was thinking of his brother, who had been stationed on the last Death Star.

 _We failed,_ Iden thought but didn’t say. _If the rebels succeeded in doing that_ again, _then…._

_We’re never getting home._

“Look alive, agents. We can grieve later.” 

It wasn’t like they knew anybody there, but they didn’t know if the _Corvus_ was alright, or if _everything_ had been destroyed or-

 _What am I supposed to tell my son?_ Del wondered, sharing a brief glance with Iden.

He didn’t like this at all.

* * *

“We’re so very screwed.” Del told Iden and Hask, later, released from the confines of their missions, away from Endor and Fondor and anywhere else that required their help for a few moments before Del left on his own mission. “We’ll be out here _forever_.”

Even Hask didn’t have anything to counter that, until Del threw down his helmet in a huff. “ _Damn_ the Rebels and _damn_ the Empire! I’m _tired_ of this!”

Iden leaned down and picked up his helmet, slowly looking into it. His was bigger than hers, but she could still stare into it and imagine its owner. 

“We all are, Del.” 

“No.” He whirled around. “Don’t start with that. You _love_ the Empire. You love it _too much,_ and you don’t care about _anything else!_ I’m only still here because of you. And you know where I _should_ be, Iden? You know where I _should_ be?! I should be at home, with _my_ son! Not yours, _mine._ Because you keep up this crap, and he will _never_ know you! And I wish _I_ never knew you!”

He stomped off, shoving past Hask who appeared just as stunned as Iden was. She tried calling after him, but her voice was weak and came out strangled. 

“Stay here.” Hask took her shoulders. “I’ll talk to him.” 

“No, just… just leave him alone.” Iden looked back down at Del’s helmet. “He just misses his son. And everything he said is… it’s completely right, Hask. That’s why it hurts so much.”

“He still had no right to speak to you like that.”

“He had every right.” Iden squeezed Del’s helmet tighter, then shoved it into Hask’s chest. He took it, understanding her silent cue. She was going to take a walk, then talk to Del.

Or maybe, she would just listen.

She took the long way to the cargo bay and found him on his favorite stack of crates, waiting to leave on his mission to the Observatory. 

But she didn’t know where to begin, so she just sat down beside him. After a few moments, Del sighed heavily, and then said, ever so quietly. “I’m so sorry, Iden. I didn’t mean any of it. I’m just…” he ran a hand through his hair. “Today was supposed to be _it_. I had my resignation letter signed, and my application of discharge ready to send.” 

“You can still resign.” Iden said. “Nobody will fault you. Go be with Camden.”

“I can’t leave the war unfinished. I can’t leave _you._ And I know you aren’t going to leave yet. You’re even more stubborn than I am.”

“It would all be different if Angel were here.” Iden agreed. “Do you think it’s possible to miss someone you’ve never even met? I mean, we didn’t even have a picture of her ultrasound.”

“I know it’s possible because I miss her, too. I hold Camden in my lap and know that there should be another child there, my son and my daughter.”

“Do you think the galaxy is punishing us, Del?”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Do you… “ She lowered her voice. “Do you think we may be on the wrong side?”

“What do you mean?”

“If we were rebels, we could be going home.” She went on. “The war may not be quite over, but they could spare a few soldiers. But the Empire can’t, or won’t. _How much longer do we have to go?”_

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope the Rebels just hurry up and win.” Del agreed.

Iden wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way.”

“True. I saw you on Fondor. You still played the part of an Imperial well, Iden.” 

“I can’t explain it, but when I’m fighting I just… I get so _angry._ I blame the Rebels for taking Angel when really, it was my fault. Or the Empire’s.”

“The Empire’s. You were stressed beyond belief, Iden. That may have been why you lost her.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” She pulled her legs ip to her chest, and leaned against Del’s shoulder, silently begging to be held. “I love you, Del. Be safe on your way.” 

“Always.” He said, and then hopped off his crate and disappeared into the shuttle that had come to meet him.

* * *

It was as if the Jedi could tell everything about Del without even trying. He could tell that Del hated the Empire, but Del wondered if he knew _why._

After he returned from his trip, he couldn’t speak to Hask, and could hardly look Iden in the eyes. 

If Iden knew what he was thinking…

_I’m going to desert on my own. I’m going to desert, and I hope Iden follows. And if she doesn’t…_

_Then it will be a sacrifice I have to make. For Camden._

Del stayed nervous, especially when he saw Iden stomp off to confront her father about using the satellites on Vardos. Now, Del was an engineer. He knew what those satellites were going to do.

He hated thinking of it.

Iden came back just as pissed as before, angrily explaining how they were to go to the planet and retrieve one single being, and leave all the others to their fates. 

_I… can’t._

Del was torn. He was so torn, and he despised it so much.

_I have to leave. I can’t- I can’t go home to Camden if I let this planet fall._

He could see children around them. _Children!_ They were about to _die_ for the Empire.

 _You have a choice, Del._ His mind told him, like the Jedi had. _A choice to be better._

Oh, but- he’d already made it. He just needed an opening. 

Iden and Hask were exchanging verbal blows about the terrible thing happening in front of them.

Finally, he caught Iden’s gaze. Hers was the same saddened expression as his.

_I don’t like this._

Del gave her a slight nod. She didn’t return it. 

They climbed the steps of the Archive.

_It was time._

* * *

Hask tried to talk him out of it- tried to talk him out of helping the injured and rejecting the Empire’s new, murderous ways. For whatever reason, damn the man, he _tried._ He begged as a brother, a friend, a superior.

“Don’t do this. Please, don’t do this.”

_I will have to kill you._

Iden didn’t let that happen.

And then they ran. Together.

 _Oh, Iden. Oh_ Iden, _thank the force,_ _I love you so, so much._

They ran, and they didn’t look back.

* * *

“Iden, what are we going to do about Camden? The Empire thinks we’re _fugitives_ now! What if Hask gets to him?”

“That’s ridiculous, Del, he won’t.”

“And how do you know _that?!”_ Del was pacing the cargo bay, and pulling out his own hair. They weren’t safe. They needed to pull away to a nebulon, but not now. 

Not yet.

“Because we’re going to Coruscant to get him.” 

“How, Iden? It’s the heart of Imperial space!”

“It’s distracted, right now, with the celebrations. And, we have Imperial ships, and, most importantly, we’ve got you. So we fly in, grab Camden, and high-tail it to the Nebula.”

“That sounds like suicide.” 

“Well, Camden needs his parents.” Iden turned around to the bridge. “Caton! Get us as close to Coruscant as possible. We have one last mission to run.”


	11. Chapter 11

Iden was right, Del noted, about Coruscant being distracted with end-of-war celebrations. It was part of the reason that he and Iden, wearing civilian clothes, were able to get where they were going so easily.

“It’s like Carnival Week.” Del murmured, remembering fond memories of the holiday. “I wanted to take Camden this year, but I guess now I never can.”

“I’m sorry, Del.” Iden said, cupping his face a bit when they slid into a safe space. “We’ll find something for our family to do. I promise.”

They flattened against the wall when voices came closer. 

“Let’s keep going.” Del said, after a few moments. Iden nodded, letting him lead and finding no problem in it. “The apartments are just down this alley.”

The slunk through the dark, like predators stalking prey. Iden was immensely thankful for the celebrations that were still occurring after the Empire’s defeat- it was the perfect cover. Especially if-

Del suddenly pressed against her, and kissed her. Iden’s eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly began getting comfortable and moaned a bit. 

_ I’ve forgotten how much I’ve missed this. _

Forgetting the entire context, Iden kissed him back readily, snaking her hands up his body, pressing closer- 

And then just as abruptly as he’d kissed her, Del parted.

“Someone was coming. I had to act fast.” 

Because… well, people were probably up to worse around here, in the dark of the alleys. 

“Wait, Del.” Iden said, pulling him before he crossed the street. He paused, and she cupped his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. A  _ real  _ kiss. 

This time, when they separated, Iden could see the longing in his eyes. 

“Later.” She murmured. “Come on.” 

They snuck across the street and for the lobby of the apartments, past a group of revelers and those watching the Net, and into the turbolift.

“Do we need anything from your old place?” Iden asked.

“Get as many of Camden’s things as you can. I’ll meet you back here. I’m taking the droid.”

She nodded, and they split up. 

The door to Del’s apartment slid open and Iden immediately set to work. She found Camden’s clothes and stuffed them in a bag, along with a few toys, non-perishable snacks, and a toothbrush. Quickly, she went to Del’s room, too, picking up datapads with memories, some extra clothes for both her and him, and-

As she dug out handfuls of socks, Iden felt something. Curious, she pulled it out: a small, red box, smaller than her palm. 

Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what it was. 

A ring box.

Del had been hiding this for… so long…

Oh, well. No time to think about it now.

She stuffed it in her back pocket.

* * *

“Droid, I need you to do a thermal scan for life forms.” 

The droid blipped and began scanning. On one side of the apartment, Del could see his parents asleep in their bed. In the other side, he could see a small, human shape on the floor of his room, making movements as if he was playing with something. 

Del chuckled a bit.  _ Typical boy, staying up too late.  _

A firework went off, and Camden jumped and ran to his window. He was about to run out of his room, to go get grandma and grandpa, but as he turned around he saw his father. 

“Dad!” Camden rushed for Del, who knelt down and scooped him into his arms. Del lifted him up and hugged him close, shushing him. 

“Remember that game I taught you to play?” Del whispered.

Camden nodded into his neck. 

“Okay, good, because we need to play that right now. It may not seem like it, but the bad guys are after us.”

Camden perked up. “The rebels?”

Del cringed. “Not exactly. It’s time to be real quiet, now. I need to put you down but I need you to hold my hand. It’s time to play Special Agent.”

Camden was too young to realize that “Special Agent” wasn’t a game, it was a drill. A drill for a time like this, when Del was sneaking Camden out of somewhere dangerous.

But that somewhere was his own house, with the Empire after them. 

Del clutched Camden’s tiny hand in one of his, then discreetly pulled out a blaster, just in case. 

Camden’s little eyes widened. “Why do you have a-“

“Shh.” Del shushed him, again, squeezing his hand tighter, slipping back into the halls. 

He couldn’t leave anything for his parents. If anything… they may already know that Del was a traitor. If they woke up and Camden was gone…

They would collect the dots. 

His mother would be furious and embarrassed. His father, the man Del inherited his looks and learned his demeanor from, would understand. They weren’t Camden’s real guardians anyway. 

_ Mom, Dad, I’m so sorry it had to be this way. _

He felt a tug on his hand as Camden turned back to look at his old apartment and then up at his father. Del gave him a reassuring smile, and then Iden was running up to them with her bag.

“I don't think anyone’s around, but he’s going to need to keep quiet in the lobby. Just in case.”

“Hear that, buddy?” Del said to the child. “More special agent.”

Camden responded by putting a finger to his lips, but he also held up his arms to be held. 

_ Okay, if it’ll keep you quiet. _

Del pulled him onto his back and felt Camden wrap his arms around his neck. He nodded to Iden, and she pressed the button on the turbolift.

“Where are we going?” Camden whispered.

“We’re going to our ship.” Iden answered.

“The big one?”

“Yeah.” She smiled at him. “The  _ Corvus.” _

The reveling had only gotten worse as the night progressed, and everyone was either too drunk or too indifferent to notice the odd family passing by. Camden had his head buried in Del’s back but peeked around, green eyes curious.

When he saw the  _ Corvus,  _ a quiet, drawn out “wow” left his lips, even if the  _ Corvus  _ was nowhere near as impressive as other Imperial ships. But to a three year old boy…

“Caton, get us to the outer rim. As far away from Imperial scanners as you can.”

To her credit, the other woman didn’t falter. “Yes ma’am.”

“And Del-“ Iden turned to him, as he was letting Camden off of his back. 

“We need to talk.”

* * *

They sat on some cargo crates, helmets resting on the ground after getting Camden to sleep in Del’s bunk.

“Are you sure that’s our best plan, Del?” Iden was highly critical of his “join the Rebels” plan. “Think about Camden.”

“That’s why I’m thinking it. It’s better to be allied with the winning team than neutral while we have Camden.”

“I mean…. I guess.” Iden shifted her legs a bit. “And can we… can we talk about that kiss?”

“What kiss?”

“On Coruscant, in the alley.” 

“I thought I already told you. Mine was just to blend in.”

“Mine wasn’t.” Iden said, taking the lead. “I realised how much I missed kissing you.” 

“Oh, yeah?” She saw a bit of red flush his cheeks. “I missed it, too. It had been awhile, hadn’t it?”

“It shouldn’t have been. I realized how distracted I’ve been lately, and distracted from you, too.”

“It’s alright, Iden. It really is.” 

“Do you think…” Iden began, suddenly nervous. “Now that we’re away from the Empire, we can… we can restore that relationship we once had?” 

“Yes, of course.” Del felt his grin widening. “I was just waiting for you to… you know, be ready again.”

“And how long were you waiting to propose?”

He blanched. “What?!”

She slyly pulled out the box from her back pocket. “I found this in your sock drawer.”

“I…” he blushed and looked down. “I was going to ask you when we got back from Kuat. I had a good feeling about it- then it all went wrong, so I honestly forgot about it.”

“Well.” Iden handed it back to him. “I’ll do my best to act surprised whenever you get around to doing it again.”

He chuckled, hardly remembering the first time he’d brought up the idea of marriage. 

“Now…” Iden hopped off of her crate. “I believe I have a surrender to record.”

  
  



	12. Chapter 12

The eight months spent fighting for the rebels went by even faster than the entire time they’d been Inferno Squad. 

After the initial shock of Del having a “son”, Camden adapted to a nomadic life on the _Corvus,_ and Del still found the time to see him at least once a day. More often than not, he would fall asleep with the boy in his small bunk, and Iden couldn’t find it in her heart to be annoyed that he wasn’t with her. 

If Camden _did_ become annoying, Caton or one of the others couldn’t ever be mad. His smile- Del’s smile- could melt anyone’s anger away. Even Shriv became like an uncle to “the little grub” as he called Camden. 

Most of Iden’s energy went to finding her father and being as good a mother as she could, though she didn’t do well separating out work and home. In fact, the only times she truly got a break was the precious moments she spent with Del. 

And then the trip to Sullust changed everything. 

She and Del were back on their spot, on top of the crates as they waited for Shriv’s pickup call or the end of Camden’s nap, whatever came first. Iden leaned against his shoulder, and Del, emboldened by the familiarity of their surroundings and the quiet of their waiting, whispered in her ear and asked her to marry him. _Really_ asked, and presented her with the ring.

It was so off guard Iden didn’t even remember ever finding it in his sock drawer.

“Why now, Del?” She wondered. 

“Because after this, we’re going to Jakku. And if I know you, you’re going to go off and do something stupid and I want you to have to come back to me.”

“Del….” Iden said softly. “Of course I’m going to come back. You didn’t have to propose to keep me here.” 

“I know but… I needed the assurance. And that ring was burning a hole in my pocket. So what do you say?”

“I say yes, of course.” Iden said, and he beamed. “But don’t get a big head, Del. You’re not the only one who’s keeping me on this ship.”

“I’m not?”

“And you know I can’t wear that ring, it’ll interfere with whatever I’m doing.”

“We’ll figure something out, then.” Del pulled her in for a hug and so she was sitting in his lap. “And what did you mean, I’m not the only one keeping you on this ship?”

Iden tilted her chin up to look at him. “We have Camden, and also, Del, I’m-“

She was interrupted by the chirp of her commlink, and Shriv Suurgav’s voice. “Iden? It’s time.”

The Duros had a habit of ruining things.

Iden sighed and hopped off of the crate while Del listened to her exchange annoyed words with Shriv. He wondered what Iden was going to say. What was she? 

He hoped she was about to say “happy.” That would mean so much to hear from her again after all these years. It had been awhile since last time Del had heard her say that. A long time ago, before they’d lost their baby girl. 

Iden gave Del a universal sign for “move out”, and then he was jogging for the bridge. On his way, he passed Camden, who was blinking sleep from his eyes. 

Del was about to tell him to go back to his room before he remembered that this wasn’t the Empire. Nobody cared if a kid wandered an active bridge every once and awhile, as long as he didn’t get in the way and stayed close to Del and Iden. Besides, it was worth seeing his big, fascinated grin as he pressed his face to the viewport and saw the lava pools of Sullust below.

“There!” He chirped, pointing to a lone AT-ST in the rising lava. Del smiled, not having the heart to tell him that they’d located Shriv and Lando long before his eyes did. Instead, he lifted Camden into his arms with a “good job, buddy.” 

After a few moments, Iden and Shriv strode onto the bridge. Del placed Camden back on the ground and patted his back in a way that meant he needed to focus on a mission and Camden should head back to his room.

“Lando’s on his way back to the fleet. Del, we’re meeting them at Jakku.”

“On our way.”

“Destroying that factory had a bigger impact than we thought….” Iden began, leaning on the holotable. Del zoned out a bit as she continued, but he knew they needed to get to Jakku, so that’s what he focused on.

_Jakku._

It was like Scarif, but without water. It reminded Del of….

_Cade._

Scarif had been the last place Del had seen his brothers alive. Could it have been where Cade died, just as Elias had? 

Did Cade die when the rebels captured the plans?

Del would never know.

_Am I dishonoring my brothers memory, now, by serving the Rebellion they swore to destroy?_

_No._

_Cade was blinded, too._

_I’m doing the right thing. For Camden. I won’t raise him naive like we were. I’ll teach him the faults of any regime, Imperial or Rebel or not._

_I’ll raise him factionless._

He was jolted back into reality when the _Corvus_ jumped from lightspeed and narrowly missed an Imperial cruiser.

Iden was right about the whole fleet being there: the _Corvus_ narrowly skirted the worst of the fighting and slid down into Jakku’s atmosphere, where the worst of the fighting was taking place.

“Karabast.” Shriv cursed when he saw the carnage taking place. 

Del had similar thoughts as he glanced over a lieutenant’s shoulder at the report. “I’m picking up distress signals. Too many to count!”

Approaching Shriv from behind, Iden took one look and knew what she had to do. “Del.” She addressed him. “The _Corvus_ is yours. Cover the sky. Shriv and I will help on the ground.”

His head tilted in disdain as she spoke and he began to protest. “Hold on a moment!” He called, marching forward. 

Iden and Shriv turned and Del took a breath. “Iden, make sure you come back.” The expression in his eyes was clear and Iden hoped she was returning his sentiment.

_Come back, survive. Camden and I need you._

“Make sure I have a ship to come back to.” She grinned. If that was Del’s attempt at saying “I love you,” in public, she responded the same way and continued to walk away.

When Del said nothing else, just stared longingly after her, Shriv rolled his big eyes and shrugged his shoulders. 

“Hey, Shriv, I hope you survive this incredibly dangerous mission as well.” He said sarcastically to himself. “Thank you, Del! Your friendship means everything to me!”

Del watched them until they were gone, then turned back to gaze out of the viewport. He had such mixed feelings about what Iden was about to do, to go out and risk her life and possibly be killed in the process- just getting out of the hangar was nearly a disaster.

“Hey, we’re still alive!” Iden quipped. “Del, where can we be useful?”

Del’s tone was a bit annoyed at her flippant nature, but ultimately he was answering the orders of his commanding officer. “I’ve got two distress beacons near your location.”

“We’ll check them out.” 

The first call involved covering the skies above Captain Lindsey’s ground crew, whose ship had crashed on the way to their drop site. Del waited in the sky until he was called for, and then Iden switched over to the channel with Del. “Del, let’s get Captain Lindsey out of here.”

“I’m inbound for pickup, Commander.” No “Iden”, just “Commander”. Del was getting too into the battle and letting his emotions get the better of him, even if Iden wasn’t just his commander, but also his best friend and recently his _fiancee._

The Rebels fell back as Imperial reinforcements spilled from a shuttle. The _Corvus_ landed and opened its ramp. Del’s voice rang from the speakers. “Hello, Captain Lindsey. Welcome to the _Corvus.”_

Once Del was up and away, he was headed to Carbon Ridge with Lindsey and the _Corvus._ Once he dropped them off, though, there was nothing he could do except watch the _Corvus_ pick off odd Imperial ships in the sky. The _Corvus_ shook, and Del felt the urge to go check on Camden and see if he was okay. 

But they had trained for this. Camden knew to stay in his room, where he was safe, and knew Del or Iden or Shriv would find him when the battle was over.

“Good job down there.” Del told them when he saw Iden and Shriv crawl out of the wreckage of a downed Star Destroyer. “Captain Lindsey and his men are taking Carbon Ridge right now.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you.” Iden grinned.

“Or me!” Shriv interrupted their flirting.

They both chose to ignore him. “How’s it going up there?” She asked Del.

“Hard to tell. But- I think the Empire is _losing!”_ Del said excitedly.

“I think you’re right. I can feel it.” Iden said. “It’s almost over. Today, the Empire dies.”

She had once said the same thing about the Rebellion. Obviously it didn't work out. Iden hoped she hadn’t just jinxed their chances.

“Better late than never.” Shriv decided.

* * *

Back on the _Corvus’_ bridge, Del’s eyes widened in worry. “Commander, we have a problem.”

He said it just in time, as TIE bombers made a run straight for his ship and bombed the hull, shaking the entire vessel. Del yelped and fell onto the console while other crew members suffered worse injuries and began to yell.

Del’s eyes squinted in fear and disbelief as a colossal Super Star Destroyer came into view.

“What is that?” Iden asked nervously.

“Your father.” Del said grimly. “He’s found us, and he’s sending bombers to take down the _Corvus!”_

“They’ll have to get through us first.” Iden declared. “Let’s take them down!”

Several times, Iden chased a TIE until it was just seconds from releasing havoc on the _Corvus._ But Iden was not about to let that happen. The _Corvus_ was home. The _Corvus_ was-

 _Del._ She thought, and her eyebrows furrowed as she destroyed another bomber.

“We’ve got another TIE squadron inbound but… something’s different. They’re coming right for you.”

Shriv’s voice cut out as a new one took over. Or, perhaps, it was technically an old one. A voice that sent shivers down Iden’s spine, though she’d never admit it.

“Hello, Iden.” Gideon Hask sneered from one of the attacking TIEs.

Del grit his teeth at his old friend’s gravelly voice. Now, _here_ was a man who had truly betrayed his brother.

“Hask.” Iden growled. “I knew you couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”

“Believe me, you and Del are the least of my concerns today.” Hask assured her as Iden banked to avoid one of his missiles. “There’s more going on here than you understand. Squadron, attack!”

It didn’t matter that Iden had a whole squadron of TIEs on her, Del knew. She was a far better pilot than any of them, Hask included. He had overestimated her skills from the comfort of his special TIE Interceptor and paid the ultimate price for it. After all his talk, and all his threats, Iden and Del watched as Hask’s ship crashed into Jakku’s surface.

Del felt pangs of sadness and regret, but also… _admiration_ of his fiancée. Some of her last words to Hask had been trying to remedy his grudge, to explain why she had defected in terms he would understand.

Even Del would not have been able to do that.

But Hask was too far gone. Too caught up in the Empire to ever see fault in it. And now he died for it.

“Commander,do you read me?” Del called. “Iden, are you alright?”

“I’m okay.” She responded. 

“Good. Look around you- it’s almost over.”

“Not yet. Get the _Corvus_ to safety. I’m finishing what we started. I’m gonna get my dad.”

“Iden he’s not worth it!” Del protested, then grit his teeth in frustration when she fought back. How had he fallen in love with such a reckless woman?!

“Fine!” He spat. Then, to the crew, he began the orders to retreat.

In her single X-wing, Iden flew towards her father’s Star Destroyer and dodged the laser cannons that attempted to take her down. But there were just too many. 

Del heard Iden’s pained scream as her X-wing slid onto the durasteel surface of the Destroyer and skidded. 

_No, Iden! Say something- anything!_ He saw her dangling precariously off the edge, and his heart dropped.

“Iden?” Del asked, voice rising in worry after he saw her X-wing be obliterated before it hit the ground. “Iden?!”

“I’m okay, Del. I’m going to find a way inside. You and Shriv follow the next distress signal.”

“Iden, no way! We’re coming back for you _right now!”_

This was not what she needed right now. “No you’re not! That’s an order!” It slipped before she could stop it. Angry and ashamed and charged with adrenaline, she cut the comms over Del’s protests, even as Republic ships barraged the _Eviscerator_ and sent it into critical condition.

And then, Del was alone. Tasked with the impossible: help others while instinct told him to save Iden. Find distress signals instead of focusing on Iden’s ping.

The world kept moving around him. The flurry of motion on the _Corvus_ still happened around him, but Del didn’t realize. No, not at all, until-

“Del!” Shriv tugged on his arm. Somehow he’d come back. “The _Eviscerator’s_ going down!”

“With Iden still on it!” Del added, frantically. “Dio! Get me a ping on her!”

On his datapad came to life, and the little dot representing Iden was moving fast. Too fast- she was in... a ship?

His comm crackled, but the signal was too weak to go through. She was out of contact, which meant...

“An escape pod!” Del realized. “She’s out, but we’ve got to find her!”

Shriv began to jog with him, but Del turned around and corrected his path, backpedaling as he gave instructions. “No, Shriv, stay here for Camden. Let him know when it’s safe. I’ll be back with her, I promise!”

It was more of a promise to himself, but Shriv didn’t care. He nodded, and changed course immediately. The Duros would never admit it, but he loved kids, especially Camden.

And Del began to search.

_Iden, I swear. As soon as I find you I’m seriously considering marrying you right here on this dustball._

He followed her signal for what had to be _hours._ His legs hurt. His heart pounded-

Then he saw it. 

Her escape pod, amongst other Imperial wreckage, like an oasis to Del’s thirst. His strength renewed, he climbed, and gripped the door and pulled with all his strength. He grunted with exertion, and then the door to her pod opened and light streamed in, illuminating-

“Del.” Iden breathed as he smiled and reached a hand down to her and pulled her up. She winced as she fell against Del, but he caught her in strong, capable arms.

Iden looked around, there on the top of the pod, and realized that something was different.

“It’s quiet.” She whispered, and Del nodded.

“Iden. It’s over.” Del said. “We won.” 

Her eyes went wide and brimmed with tears still unshed. “It’s over?” She echoed breathlessly.

All Del could do was smile at her. Smile and bask in the fact that she was alive, Iden was alive and they had won.

More thoughts went through his mind until suddenly, he felt Iden’s hands on his face and she was kissing him. Del’s hands went to her waist and held her close to him. 

Iden was here. She was _alive_ , and she loved him, too. She was kissing him, done with their sabbatical from each other, of denying each other any more than nighttime cuddles excluding the one time they’d given into temptation- 

He smiled against her mouth and she pulled back a bit. They both looked at each other, and then Del’s mirthful green eyes sparkled as he laughed and then pulled her in again, right there on top of the escape pod, and kissed her for all it was worth.

“Del.” Iden smiled when they parted. “I need to tell you something. I tried before, but Shriv interrupted.”

“I remember. On the crates?”

“Yeah.” Iden looked into his green eyes and smiled so warmly. “Del, I’m gonna have another baby.” 

“ _What_?” Del gaped. “You’re- we’re-“ He meant to step back in shock, but his foot slipped and Iden caught him. 

“I know we weren’t thinking about it at all, but I think it’s rather fitting, now, don’t you think? The war’s over…”

“You went out and did _all of this,”_ Del gestured wildly with an arm, and then back to her. “While you were _pregnant?_ That couldn’t be _safe-_ “

“I didn’t even know until a few days ago. I denied it for so long. And trust me, Del. I know last time was rough, but we can do this. Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He stepped closer to her, leaned down, and kissed her again. “ _I’m so happy.”_

When Shriv walked up, only a few minutes late to interrupt _again,_ he caught them in a deep kiss: Del had Iden completely dipped, and he was pretty sure there was some tongue involved.

He half expected them to start shucking clothes, and Shriv was just glad the kid wasn’t here to see it. 

“The, uh, droid tells me you’re alive.” He said to Iden, who quickly separated from Del but kept one arm around him. 

“Looks that way.” She responded, a bit annoyed at the intrusion. Del was, too, but he was too busy smiling to communicate it with his expression.

“I’m glad.” Shriv said and nodded. “Now come on,” he used his hand to gesture over a ridge. “You gotta see this.”

Curious, Iden followed. She followed Shriv up a sand dune and beheld the sight before her. 

Jakku was covered in Imperial Star Destroyers. It had to be _all_ of them. The _entire_ Imperial fleet, reduced to ashes and rubble on the desolate surface of a backwater planet.

How perfect.

Iden reached for Del’s hand as he came up behind her. He took it and they beheld the beautiful sight together. 

The war was over. 

They had won.

Eventually, Shriv wandered back to the _Corvus,_ which had parked nearby.

“It’s beautiful, Del.” Iden breathed. “Isn’t it? The most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.”

He responded by squeezing her hand. Then, once he had her attention, he reached for her other one so she turned to face him. 

“No, Iden. _You_ are. _You’re_ the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

If it weren’t for the way he was looking at her, or for the way he had been kissing her earlier, Iden would have laughed. Instead she just smiled, half expecting Del to reach for her face and kiss her again. 

Del just sighed, and slid his hand down to her belly. They’d only slept together once, recently, so it didn’t take a genius to figure out how far along she was. Unlike the other times Del had felt her pregnant belly, he could feel the ever so slight bulge of her stomach. Part of him wondered how she hadn’t miscarried again with all that she’d been up to. It seemed much more than whatever had caused her to lose Angel.

“We’re gonna make it, Del.” Iden whispered, interrupting him. “Just a few more weeks, and there’s hardly a risk of miscarriage. And now-“ She pulled up his chin. “I’m not even stressed.”

“I love you so much.” Del sighed, touching his forehead to hers. Their eyes closed, and they both smiled. “Please, hurry up and marry me. You don’t have any excuse, now.”

She grinned. “Do you still want me to adopt Camden?”

“Of course.” Del breathed. 

“Good, because I’ve already got the papers.” Iden kissed Del again, softly. “So what do you think, is Camden old enough, this time? Should we tell him?”

“Let’s tell _everyone.”_ Del amended, and kissed her again. This time she melted, and then Del swept her off of her feet and into his arms, bridal style, and carried her back to the _Corvus_.


	13. Chapter 13

Camden was as enthralled by the idea of a new baby as Del was excited. As Iden’s belly grew, so did the boy’s attachment to it, and sometimes Iden would have to tolerate both Del _and_ her oldest kissing her belly, talking to the baby and telling them everything they thought they needed to know.

“We’re gonna share a room, and we’re gonna be best friends.” Camden said, as he and Iden both rubbed her belly, finding anywhere that it moved to accommodate a kick. “Even if you’re a girl.”

“Oh, now you think it’s a girl?” Iden raised an eyebrow, but in reality even she didn’t know. She and Del had chosen to keep the gender of their miracle baby a secret, so that when he or she was born it would be that much more exciting. “Last week, you were sure it was a boy.”

“You said we’d find out, soon.” Camden looked up at her with pleading eyes. 

“Yep, by the end of this week.” Iden agreed. The only worrisome thing about this pregnancy had been the fact that the baby didn’t seem to want out, and staying in there just meant they were getting bigger. Her due date had been a few days ago.

She was nervous for the day she would end up pushing them out. But, at the same time, she was so very excited. She couldn’t wait to hold her son or daughter, to cry over him or her, to bond and kiss- 

“Oh-“ she said, pressing a hand to the top of her belly.

“Mama?” Camden asked, sitting up a bit in bed, warily. Even before she’d adopted him, “mama” had come so easily to him, and so easy for her to respond to. 

“It’s alright, I just felt…” Iden sucked in a breath, gripping some of Camden’s sheet in a hand and let it out slowly, through her cheeks. When Camden gave her another worried look, Iden gave him her best smile and cupped his head. “Tell you what, I think you can come sleep in my room tonight, and that way we can wait for the baby together.” 

“Wait for the baby?” Camden repeated. “Is it coming _now_?”

“They might be. Or maybe they’re just playing a little joke on us, you remember last week?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on.” Iden held out a hand, and Camden crawled out of his bed and met her on the ground. Slowly, they walked down the hall, until they reached Iden and Del’s room. It had been a space reimagined into a real master bedroom, with a king-sized mattress to fit all of their sleeping habits that was comfortable enough for even a pregnant Iden to relax on. 

“Do you want your pajamas, mama?” Camden asked. 

She chuckled. “I’ve been wearing my pajamas for the past few weeks, sweetheart.”

“But yours don’t have cool dinosaurs on them like mine do.”

“No, they don’t.” Iden agreed, pulling him up so he settled into her side. “Think you can sleep here tonight?”

“I want to wait for dad to come back from his dinner.”

“His dinner’s going late, you know how much he and Luke like to talk.” Iden ruffled Camden’s dark hair a bit, then leaned back into the pillow when she felt the odd pain again. 

“Dio.” She breathed. “Start a timer, just in case.”

He blipped, and obeyed.

“Where’s the baby now, mama?” Camden asked, tracing Iden’s belly. Grateful for the distraction, Iden began to respond.

“Well, since your brother or sister’s ready to be born their head is down here, at mama’s hips so the doctor can get him out easier. And baby’s legs are up here, kicking my bladder.”

She wasn’t exagerrating. There had been a few incidences where she hadn’t made it to the ‘fresher, but her bladder was so small accidents weren’t very bad anyway, and Del was such a caring husband he never looked down on her for it, just helped her to the ‘fresher and into new pants and-

“Oh, there’s another one.” She interrupted her own thoughts, and Dio chirped, adding it to his log.

“Another what?”

“They’re called contractions, it’s how I know the baby’s really trying to get out, now. And they’re coming fast, too. Dio, how long was that?”

_Seven minutes._

Iden pursed her lips. So, her labor had officially begun. Her water would likely break within the hour. But now, she wanted to get some rest, at least, and then hopefully Del would be back. 

* * *

About two hours later, Del strode back into his room and found his wife and son asleep, the former curled into her left side, facing away from him. 

“Hey, buddy.” Del leaned down and kissed Camden’s cheek. “You’re in my spot.”

The boy stretched, then blinked his eyes awake. “Mama wanted me to stay with her while the baby comes.” 

“While the baby comes?” Del echoed. “What do you mean?”

“She started getting con- contra-.” He scrunched his little nose up. “Big word.”

But Del was frozen. 

“She’s getting _contractions_?” He demanded.

“Yeah,” Camden murmured, tiredly.

After a few heartbeats of stunned silence, Del tried for a smile and leaned down to hold his son. It wasn’t very good, though- Camden could feel his hands shaking, and as soon as he fell back asleep Del rushed to the mess hall for some caf- he knew he’d need it to stay awake with Iden.

Speaking of Iden, she woke up as soon as the smell of caf hit her nose. 

“Get that out of here-“ she demanded, groggily, and sat up a bit.

“Camden told me you were in labor.”

“Yeah, I think my water broke. We should probably start heading…” Iden trailed off, but Del was already nodding, running to the bridge to pass on the message to the crew on shift. _Head for Chandrila, quickly._

Their friend Senator Organa had insisted Iden use the same birthing suites she had. Assuming they got there in time, that’s what Iden and Del expected to do. 

He was so very nervous- his son or daughter was about to be here! In just a few _hours_ , perhaps- 

“Del!” Iden barked through a commlink, and he was sprinting back. 

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“I feel disgusting, with all this stuff coming out of me. Help me to the ‘fresher.”

“Are you _sure?”_

“For _kriff’s_ sake, Del, some women give birth in the bathtub, it’s _fine!”_

And so it went. Del followed Iden’s instructions, until they had walked the halls so many times to distract her and keep her moving until Iden couldn’t take it any longer, and they walked straight off the _Corvus_ and into the medcenter, received by nurses who got to work immediately. 

Iden managed her pain well, gripping Del’s hand as she waited for the moment she could push. Oh, she wanted to push _so bad,_ to get this baby out of her and into her arms and-

“ _Kriff.”_ She moaned in pain. “It burns, Del.” 

“Burns?”

“Yeah, _burns._ Someone’s lighting a kriffing _fire_ between my legs.” 

“That would be the baby, Iden. There’s about to be crowning.”

“Oh, thank the force.” Iden breathed a sigh of relief that turned into a pained groan. “ _Please,_ I want to push _so bad.”_

Exasperated, Del looked to the attending nurse, who glanced over charts and checked to see how dilated she was. “She’s good, the next time she wants to push, let her.” 

“Oh, thank goodness.” Iden repeated, again, as she felt a burst of energy. “Come here, Del.”

She had been very, _very_ adamant that she wanted to do her pushing in his lap, with him holding her from behind and serving as a crash pad. Del responded immediately, slipping behind her and letting her take his hands. 

“You’re doing great, Iden.” 

“Yeah, I can tell by how crowded the room’s getting.” 

It was true, Del realized that two new people had entered, all three talking amongst themselves. 

“You know, this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” Iden admitted, after releasing Del’s hand from a push. 

Del was extremely thankful for that. Leave it to Iden to treat giving birth like another task on a to do list. She was stubbornly going through it, step by step, until-

“Oh, _kriff.”_ She cursed. “That _burns_ again.” Her head tipped back and into Del’s shoulder, and all he could do was encourage her, kiss her forehead, and let her squeeze his hand. 

They’d read up on the stages of labour, and how the last stage of it would probably last a few hours. But with Iden, it seemed to be going _extremely_ quickly. Textbook perfect, even.

“Didn’t they say baby’s got a big head?” Iden panted. 

Del chuckled a bit, kissing her knuckles. 

“I can feel it. Now instead of burning I just feel like I need to-“ 

She didn’t finish. Her mouth clamped shut, her eyebrows narrowed, and Iden Versio pushed with everything she had left and then some. 

And Del could only think to himself that it was some kind of record, because then all of the sudden there was _screeching._ The same kind of shrill, high-pitched cry that Del remembered Camden producing from his tiny little lungs when they’d first met. 

_Oh kriff_ . _Oh,_ kriff, _Iden just had our baby. She just had our baby and it’s screaming and-_

“It’s a boy!” The midwife announced, holding him up for them to see. Iden gave a strangled laugh, Del felt a tear roll down his cheek. 

Their son didn’t look like much, just a pink, slimy, mini-human that screamed and kicked and punched, but to Iden and Del he was so much more. He was _hope,_ he was _strength._ The rainbow after a torrent. 

Iden and Del were instantly in love. 

And then he was lying on her chest, everything but his tiny head under her blanket and sharing heat from her skin. 

“Such a big boy.” Iden murmured, gently spreading out tiny fingers and toes. “I think he beat Camden.”

“He didn’t just beat him, he blew him out of the water.” Del had been just as surprised as the nurses when he’d heard their son’s weight. 

“That was almost four kilos you just pushed out, Iden.”

“Shut the _kriff_ up, Del.” 

Newborns were naturally alert, and their baby boy was no exception. Del could already clearly see Iden’s nose, but thin lips and dark curls to complete his look as a Meeko. 

“He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Del kissed Iden’s forehead, voice wavering.

“Don’t you kriffing cry, Del. If you cry, then I’m gonna cry and-“

Too late. 

Iden and Del shared a look, and then began sobbing. The baby just bounced along on Iden’s chest, confused and cold and hungry. He gave an attention seeking wail and then began fishing around with an empty mouth, seeking. 

“Well, it’s been awhile.” Iden sniffed when she felt their son latch, filling himself up in the new world. 

“You think Camden wanted a brother?”

“I think Camden just wanted a baby, _period.”_

“Well, let them finish up with him in here and then we can let him come meet his brother.” Iden decided. “But tell Shriv to go get me some food.”

Del chuckled a bit, then leaned back in for another kiss. “I’m so proud of you, Iden.” 

She hummed, and adjusted the brand new baby on her chest, wrapping him in the blanket that he had been handed to her in and slid him into Del’s arms. 

Iden was right. It _had_ been awhile, over half a decade, but Del’s hands hadn’t forgotten how to hold a baby. His brain still remembered to baby talk. Seeing this baby kickstarted it, and then he was off to the races.

“Hey there, buddy.” He whispered. “I’m your dad. What’s your name gonna be, huh? What about Chaol? Do you like that?”

The baby stared at him. Yes, he seemed to like it a lot, or he was just excited to hear Del’s voice. 

“Yeah?” Del smiled widely as he cupped Chaol’s head. “Your mom picked that one out for you. We’re so excited to have another little boy.”

As much as that was true, neither Iden nor Del would ever forget their daughter who could have been, and spent all of this pregnancy wondering if this was their redemption, but also not caring whether they had another boy. 

“Is Shriv here?” Iden wondered, cradling her now empty belly as she shifted in bed, meaning to walk over to the nearby rocking chair just to _move._

“Yes, and I’m sure Camden is driving him up the wall.” 

“Camden’s a sweetheart. Stop saying that.” 

The minutes whizzed by after that, full of testing and feeding and rocking the baby, until Camden was finally allowed inside to see his baby brother.

Chaol was wearing one of Camden’s old onesies, but Iden and Del didn’t expect him to know that.

Del welcomed him in, but then the little boy froze and refused to walk forward like he was having second thoughts. Del was nervous, and he had no idea why, but maybe it had to do with the fact Chaol seemed very fussy.

“Come on, buddy. Don’t you wanna see your new brother?”

At the words, “new brother,” Camden unfroze, and walked hastily to Iden’s side. He peered at Chaol’s tiny, capped face, and smiled.

“That’s your brother Camden, Chaol.” Iden cooed, and Chaol seemed to quiet long enough to gaze into Camden’s face.

“Why’s he so unhappy?” Camden wondered. 

“He’s just testing out his lungs.” Iden smiled, and Del, too, chuckled a bit as he sat down on Iden’s vacant bed. “You were like this, too, when you were a baby.”

Camden scrunched up his face. “No I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were. I don’t know what world you were living in.”

“His blanket has a bunch of feet on it.”

“It’s just the medcenter’s blanket. They give it to all the babies.”

“Can I hold him?” 

“If you’re really careful and your dad helps you.” 

Del came forward to accept the bundle, and Camden eagerly climbed onto his leg and then, as soon as the boy was still, Del laid his youngest’s swaddled body on his lap.

The brothers looked at each other, puzzled. Then Camden began to grin. 

“He looks more like mama. Just like she said he would.” 

“Yeah, but he’s gonna get tall like me because he’s big, like you were.” 

“He doesn’t look very big.”

“You’ll understand someday, when you become a dad.” 

“I don’t want to be a dad. I want to be a brother.” Camden looked up at Del with big eyes. “But, dad, what does “brother” mean?”

Del’s eyes misted up, and he pulled his sons closer. 

“It means a lot of things, son.” He whispered. “And I promise, one day, you’ll get it. You’ll be such a good brother, Camden. Just don’t… don’t make the same mistakes I made. Your baby brother?”

Even Iden was curious, now, and stopped rocking to listen closer.

Del put a giant hand on his shoulder. “Don’t _ever_ leave his side. No matter what.”

_That’s what my brothers and I did wrong. We let ourselves get separated, and then we were killed off, one by one-_

No. He wasn’t going to think about that now.

“I won’t, dad. I promise you.” Camden insisted.

“Good.” 

He kissed the side of his eldest’s head, ruffled his hair, and hugged him close.

Del could’ve sworn that when he looked in the mirror, he saw Cade’s smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone who celebrates!
> 
> I guess with the end of this story I should let you know about my new projects are. I have an original story planned, and will be posting it on here eventually.
> 
> I also have another idea that I have been toying with for a long time. A “fix it” fic, if you will. I always enjoyed the character Gideon Hask but feel as if his story could have gone a lot differently with just a few minor tweaks. So thus a fix it fic that ultimately saves Hask from his own fate was born.
> 
> Let me know what you guys are looking forward to! I don’t like to post fics before I finish them but perhaps, with enough encouragement I could change that if my readers show support. 
> 
> In the meantime, if you are into “HaskDemption” as it has been called- I have a few one shots on here that definitely allude to that. “Lost, Broken, and Battered” was unofficially for whumptober but... it works.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes I know Del isn’t a Real commander but his canon rank is Lieutenant Commander/Agent so I’m sure the public just knows him as Commander.


End file.
